Gone
by Fangirl140
Summary: Slade is back, but nobody knows what he's up to except for the fact that he needs Kat's powers. Not only do the Titans have to worry about him, but they have to handle problems between Kat and the two heart throbs of the team, Speedy and Aqualad.Enjoy R
1. Chapter 1

The building was about to come down. Firefighters, aided by Aqualad, worked desperately to put out the flames. Speedy, Bumblebee, and Kat worked fast to help people out of the burning structure while the twins, Mas and Menos, pointed them to where they needed to go. The short, electric-blue eyed girl carried a blanket out of the building, a crying little girl buried in the fabric. Carrying the girl to her mother who was already outside, the woman thanked her with a weak smile and a few tears.

"That should be everyone," she heard Speedy say out loud, but a sobbing woman cried out to them,

"NO! Wait…my dog! Please…he's still inside!" The police tried to calm her, but she refused to listen to their comforting words. Nobody else was standing with her except people in uniforms. She had to be living alone with that dog. "Please! He's all I have left!"

"Ma'am…please…" one of the officers said, "I'm sorry, but you're dog most likely didn't survive." That's when they all heard it. Barking…coming from inside the building.

"My boy! He's still alive! Please…you have to save him!" Kat let out a groan. She sprinted past Speedy and Bumblebee, ignoring their screams for her to come back. Speedy raced after her, but she was too fast for him. She bolted through the entry way before realizing that she had forgotten to put up her shield to protect her. The flames in front of her threatened to burn her, but she quickly activated the barrier. However, she had a new problem. The air that was trapped inside the bubble was polluted with smoke from the fire. She cursed to herself before continuing through the building.

Kat whistled, calling for the dog. It probably would've helped if she had asked what the dog's name was, but it was too late for that. She coughed; the smoke that was trapped inside her shield was filling her lungs. She whistled again. She tried to listen for barking, but there was none. It was too late for the dog. She turned around to leave when she heard whimpering coming from her left. She turned to see a bundle of golden fur curled near a corner in a wall. She slowly made her way to the dog, each step she took to get closer to him, the further he tried to push into the wall.

"It's okay…" she whispered, deactivating her shield, her hand reaching out for the golden retriever, "…I'm not going to hurt you. I promise you, everything will be alright." He stared up at her with trusting eyes before she touched the top of his head, lightly brushing her hand through his fur. "Come on…I'm going to get you out of here." She picked him up, surprised to see that he was really light. She went to reactivate her shield, so she may get them through the flames with no problem, but to her despair, it wouldn't work. She tried again…still no luck.

"Damn it…"she cursed, "…this couldn't get any worse…" _Crack!_ The sound echoed off the burning walls of the building. She looked up to see the beams starting to give way. Her eyes widened in shock. If she didn't get out of there, those beams would fall, and she'd be trapped in there. Again she attempted to make a shield, and it worked, but it was only big enough to cover the dog. She didn't care because he needed it more than her. Holding the dog close to her body, she carried him through the building.

With each breath she took in, the more her lungs would become contaminated with smoke. The coughing worsened as she found it impossible to stop. Her throat was burning, and her eyes were watering. She was weakening with every second, but every time she heard the dog in her arms whimper, it gave her the strength to keep pushing through the flames. She was able to use her ice disks to freeze some of the flames to get through, but as soon as she'd bypass one set of flames, she'd encounter a new one. Also, the frozen flames behind her were beginning to melt, and new flames were starting to take their place, the fire licking at her back. The number of ice disks she had was withering down until there were none left to use. She was left to fend the flames by herself.

Speedy and the other Titan's waited outside anxiously. However, Speedy was the only one who was actually staring at the entryway, his gaze transfixed on the flames that Kat had disappeared into. Why did she go back in? It was just a dog…a dog wasn't important, but maybe she thought otherwise. Still, it was a dog!

"Please…" he whispered, "…please be alright…"

Kat rounded around different corners to avoid the flames that would block her path. She couldn't go back the way she had come because the fire that had overcome the hallways prevented her from going that way. She had to find a new way to get out. Time was running out for her. She was lacking oxygen, her body was weakening, and every corner she turned led to another fire. Finally, she found the exit she had come in from. She let out a sigh of relief as she started running for it. _CRACK! SNAP! _A beam from the ceiling finally broke off and crashed to the floor before her, a new, burning fire blocking her only way out. Kat stepped back to avoid the embers, but she didn't realize that there was a fire right behind her. Her foot landed in the flames, singeing her boot and the skin that lie underneath the rubber. She pulled her foot back out of the fire, a yell breaking through her lips as her brain registered the pain.

Kat tried not to cry as she attempted to set her foot back down on the ground, but the pain went from unbearable to agonizing. Another cry ripped past her lips. She collapsed to the ground; the dog still held firmly in her arms. The tears escaped her eyes as she hugged the dog closer to her arms. Coughing non-stop, she was finding it harder to breathe. The dog started barking and whimpering, bringing her back to reality. She had to get him out of there. She promised that everything would be alright, and she intended to keep him safe. Getting up with the strength she had left, she lifted the dog. She activated her jets before her flying board became functional. Hovering in the air, she readied herself. More sounds echoed off the walls. The building was close to collapsing. She stared at the flames, the beautiful red, yellow, and orange colors dancing across the fallen beam. She let out a yell before advancing on the flames that led to her only exit.

Everyone outside the building watched as a beam fell in front of the entryway to the building. Speedy couldn't believe it. The only exit…blocked. That's when he heard the scream. _Kat…_He started running for the fire when two firefighters grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Let. Me. Go!"He exclaimed," My friend is in there!" They refused to let him run towards the building.

"You can't go in! The building is on the verge of collapsing!" one of them said, "We can't risk allowing you in there. The building could collapse onto you…" Speedy still didn't stop his struggles. Another scream sounded through the air, but this one didn't stop. A figure jumped through the flames, and he and everyone else around watched as an electric-blue eyed girl landed on the ground, a bundle of fur in her arms.

The building finally gave way, and it toppled down. Beam after beam, wall after wall, the structure crumpled in a fiery mess. Kat stood up, the shield around the dog disappearing. She set the dog down, and he ran towards his owner who stood a few feet away.

"Oh, Sonny!" the woman exclaimed before wrapping her arms around the dog's neck. He licked her face in happiness. It warmed Kat's heart to see them together once again. The warm feeling disappeared fast though when her team mates came into view. They look worried and upset. Aqualad led her to an ambulance and started tending to her burnt leg and made sure she got the oxygen she needed that she was so desperately deprived of. When she seemed better, Bee exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" she screamed, causing the young girl to jump. "You could have easily been killed!" Kat narrowed her eyes at the winged girl before jumping down from the truck, pushing past her. She didn't want to her leader rant on and on. "Where do you think you're going? You come back here right now!" She ignored her.

"Excuse me…young lady?" Kat turned around to see the woman who owned the dog walking up to her. Not only that, but the deadly glare from Bumblebee.

She looked at the woman, "Yes?"

"I want to thank you…for saving my dog," she explained, "Sonny is the only piece of my old life that I have left. You see, my husband got me Sonny when he was a puppy, and not long after that, my husband died. I didn't know how I'd go on, but Sonny showed me how. That dog has been with me through everything, and I appreciate you for going in there to get him. It was so brave of you. You knew that the building was on its way to falling, but you still gone in. That took courage…" Kat smiled at the woman.

"It was no problem…just a few burns. No big deal," she replied.

"No…it was a big deal. If you hadn't gone in, Sonny wouldn't be here right now." At this point, the woman was crying, "…I don't know how I'd live without him." Kat couldn't take it anymore, and she wrapped her arms around the woman in a hug. They stayed like that for several minutes before the woman pulled back, wiping her eyes with her index finger. "I'm sorry…I'm just getting all choked up about what would have happened if you hadn't run in there."

"Well, it'll never happen because Sonny is safe out here, with you," Kat said kindly, "and it'll stay that way." The woman whispered one last thank you before walking away. Suddenly, Kat felt something deep down inside of her that warmed her soul. She never felt it before. It was satisfaction…she was pleased. She actually felt appreciated…valued. Hearing that woman say what she said, Kat felt like she finally did something right, something good. Yes, everyday she fights criminals and takes down bad guys, but not once has anyone personally told her that she did a good job, not even her own teammates. All injuries forgotten, she made her way to the T-Car, and the others followed behind her.

The ride back to the tower was unbearably silent. Kat refused to make eye contact with her team mates as she stared out the windows of the car. Mas and Menos spoke non-stop in Spanish with Bumblebee who nodded her head every now and then to act like she was listening, when she was really gazing at Kat through the side mirror. Speedy would look at her too using the rear view mirror. However, Aqualad was the only one who was actually trying to talk to her.

"Kat…how's your leg?" he would ask, but she would remain silent. "Kat…how's your breathing? Are you breathing alright? I mean, you sucked in a lot of smoke," or maybe, "Kat, how are your other burns? Are you in any pain right now?" He was the only one who was showing her compassion, but Kat still wouldn't respond.

Finally, they made it back to the tower. Kat was the first one up the stairs to the main room, but before she could escape back to her own room, Bumblebee and Speedy stopped in front of her, preventing her from exiting the room.

"Okay…now talk to us," Speedy said, his arms crossed in front of his chest, "Why did you run back into that building? I mean, come on! It was a dog! His life is not more important than yours!"

"His life is just as bit as important as mine!" she retorted.

"But you're still part of this team," Bumblebee cut in, "and that dog was not! It wouldn't matter if the dog died, but if you did, this team would be devastated!"

"You'd do just fine if I died…" Kat murmured, "…you seemed to be doing a great job before I showed up and joined the team."

"Well, you're wrong," Speedy said, "we wouldn't do fine. If you ever died, well…it would just kill us, and when you go pull stunts like the one you did tonight…I just…I don't know! You can't do things like that! You made a poor choice last night…I mean, it has to be the stupidest thing you've done in your entire life, or at least the time that you've been a Titan…"

"You think it was stupid?" He nodded his head. "Well, that woman who owned the dog didn't think so…"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really! You know what she told me…" Kat looked at every single one of her teammates, "…she told me that what I did was the bravest thing that she had ever seen. She told me I had a lot of courage, and it made me feel good to hear those words come out of her mouth! You guys, that dog was all she got…he was the only piece of her family that wasn't gone yet! What I did today, was good…it was great, and if you don't think so, too bad!"

"Kat, look…" Bumblebee lightly touched the girl's shoulder, but she shrugged her hand off, "…we understand that what you did was very heroic, but you could have easily been killed in those flames. I mean, what's one less dog in this world mean anyway?"

"The end of the world for a very lonely woman…" Kat snapped.

"Come on Kat," Speedy said, "you need to think of this team!"

"All I ever think about is this team!" she exclaimed, "I think about how you guys never seem to appreciate what I do! I clean this tower, I cook for you, and I even put up with all your damn bickering! Never once have I heard a 'thank you' or 'you're the best Kat'! Not once! Even today, I did something, that I believe, was a really good thing, and I don't get a 'great job.' No…all I hear is, 'What were you thinking?' as well as, 'Are you insane!' and most importantly, 'You aren't thinking about the team!' I didn't even get a, 'Are you alright? Are you hurt?' Except Aqualad…thank you by the way for actually _showing that you care!_" The Atlantean smiled weakly before Kat continued as her eyes began to fill with tears,

"When that woman talked to me after I saved her dog, I felt great inside, and all you guys did was try to break me down. You yelled at me…I just…you guys don't treat me the way I want to be treated. Yes, we have great times together…but now I'm just so frickin' sick and tired of this team!"

"Kat…you don't mean that…" Bumblebee interrupted.

"Oh hell I do!" she screamed, "I mean every word I am saying right now! I can't stand living here anymore…" She began to stalk away, making her way to her bedroom.

"Wait…KAT!" Speedy grabbed her arm, "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving…I'm going to pack, and I'm leaving the tower…"

"What?" Everyone's attention was now plainly focused on her. She ripped her arm out of the archer's grip before walking out of the room. Speedy looked towards the others. Bumblebee sighed.

"We have to let her go…" she stated.

"We can't…she's part of this team!" the redhead replied, glaring at his leader.

"Look, it's not our choice…it's Kat's, and we have to respect it, even if we don't want to…" Bumblebee took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the island counter in the kitchen, Aqualad taking a seat on the counter in front of her.

"But…but-"

"Speedy, Bee's right." the Atlantean cut in, "We can't keep her here forever. If she wants to leave, we have to let her…"

"But maybe we can convince her to stay…" the archer suggested, "…we'll show her that we do appreciate her by doing things differently…give her what she wants." Speedy thought desperately for more ways to keep Kat from leaving, but he knew nothing they could say or do would change her mind. They learned in the past three years as a team that when Kat made up her mind, it was made up. There was most likely no possibility of changing it. Aqualad and Bumblebee eventually stopped listening to Speedy as he rambled on and on, and the twins just sat quietly on the couch as they tried hard not to cry.

Kat walked into her room, grabbing the duffel bag she used for traveling from under her bed. She opened it and started folding her clothes before placing them neatly in the bag. Grabbing other necessities for living, she stored them in the bag with her clothes. She packed her computer into her backpack, as well as her other electrical equipment: cell phone, chargers, I-Pod, ect. She looked around her room, checking to make sure she had everything. She was just about to leave her room when she remembered something she had forgotten, but she didn't know if she should take it with her or not. She dug through the drawer of her desk before finding what she was looking for.

In her hand, she held a picture that she had taken while she was at the beach with the team. Speedy was halfway in the air as he jumped while Kat and the others rolled over laughing. It had been one year since she had joined the team when she took it. She could still remember the day she took the picture.

_"Speedy get over here now!" Kat exclaimed as she readied the camera on the tripod. _

_ "Wait! I'm still fixing my hair!" the redhead replied as he continued patting down his hair while gazing at himself in his pocket mirror. _

_ "If you're not here in front of this camera in five seconds, I am going to zap you like there's no freaking tomorrow!" she threatened him, her hand beginning to charge up with electricity. Speedy, true to his name, bolted towards the group in front of the camera in a matter of seconds. While Kat continued working with the camera, Mas and Menos found a lonely crab on the sand before picking it up carefully, but no one seemed to notice. They looked at each other, devilish grins plastered to their faces. Aqualad continued talking with Bumblebee, and Speedy carried on with his vanity session. _

_ "Okay…the camera's set," Kat said aloud before pushing the button on the camera. She ran over to Speedy, grabbed the mirror out of his hand and threw it to the ground. He glared at her before she kissed him on the cheek which immediately brought his spirits back up. As the camera continued its count down, the six Titans smiled at it. Actually, four of them were. The other two were sneaking a crab into the archer's pants. _

_ "You know…that was my favorite mirror," Speedy said, "A little peck on the cheek isn't going to make up for it." Kat smiled. When they leaned into kiss, the crab decided at that moment that it wanted out and began pinching at anything. Speedy let out a yelp, and they all burst out into fits of laughter. _Snap! _The camera took the picture._

Kat chuckled at the memory. She had kept that picture and every other picture that she took with her teammates. She pocketed the picture in her jacket and made her way out the door of her room. Walking into the main room was hard for her, but she did it. She gave Bee a hug goodbye, and Aqualad got a peck to the cheek as well as a hug. However, Kat practically broke down when she hugged the twins. They started crying along with her, and it broke her heart, but she still was fixed on leaving. She loved the twins, but she was sticking with her choice.

"¡Por favor, no deje! ¡Te necesitamos aquí! (Please don't leave! We need you here!)" they cried.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "but I have to go. You two will be just fine. You're my brave little soldiers right?" They nodded their heads, weak smiles spreading across their faces. "Good…take care of yourselves, okay?" The twins gave her one last hug before she stood up. She looked around, hoping to find Speedy, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now…" she said before walking towards the staircase that led to the garage.

"Take care of yourself," she heard Bumblebee say, but she didn't turn around to respond to her. Kat continued down the stairs until she reached her motorcycle. She placed her duffel bag in the case on the side of her bike before mounting the two-wheeler. However, she soon realized what else she was missing…her keys. She dropped her backpack onto the ground before running up the stairs to the main room. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, and their faces seemed to brighten.

"¡Estás de vuelta! ¿Significa esto que no te vas? (You're back! Does this mean you're not leaving?)" the twins exclaimed, hoping that she would say yes, but she shook her head.

"I'm sorry…I just forgot my keys." She crossed the room to the table where she knew she had left her keys, but they were no longer there. "Umm…have you guys seen my keys?" They shook their heads before they all heard something jingling. Speedy stood in the doorway to her right; her keys held firmly in his hand. She looked from the keys to his face, and he wouldn't make eye contact with her. "Speedy…can I please have the keys?" He shook his head.

"No…not until you promise that you'll stay."

"Speedy, I can't…now, just give me the keys…" Again, he shook his head.

"You can't leave us Kat! You just can't! We need you here…_I _need you here! We're sorry, okay! We didn't mean to hurt you or make you feel underappreciated, but we really care about you! We've had great times as a team…you can't just throw it away! You can't quit the Teen Titans!"

"I'm not quitting the Teen Titans…I'm just leaving this team…" she mumbled, her eyes beginning to brim with tears, "…now, will you please just give me the keys?" He didn't say anything, and the grip he had on the keys tightened. "Speedy…please…just think about me right now. This is what I need to do…"

Speedy stepped closer to her, his free hand lightly caressing her cheek, "But is it what you _want _to do?" She grasped his hand as the tears began to fall. She shut her eyes tight.

"Please…just give me the keys…" she begged, her palms up, so he could put them in her hands. He did. Her fingers curled around the metal before she walked around him to leave, but she stopped. Turning around, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "I'll miss you…" she whispered before pulling away and running back down to the garage. Speedy followed her, but when he got downstairs, Kat was already driving off, away from the tower.

He felt a tear slip down his cheek; the first tear he had ever cried in ages, and as she disappeared into the misty fog that had settled around the tower that morning, more and more droplets fell from his eyes. He didn't hide his tears this time. He let them fall, and it seemed like they would never stop. He looked up to see the last remnants of her shadow disappear, the sounds of the motorcycle fading into nothing. She was gone…


	2. Chapter 2

Kat dared not to push the emergency "help" button on her communicator as she ran through the darkness of the rundown building she was trapped in. She could hear the footsteps behind her as her adversary chased after her. Her heart was racing, and sweat dripped down her face. For the first time in her life that she had her powers, she was actually terrified. One: her opponent was far more skilled than her when it came to fighting hand to hand combat; two: he seemed unaffected by her electric charges. Every time she'd hit him with a bolt, he'd be perfectly fine; he'd be completely unfazed by her power, and three: he knew all her weaknesses. He knew how to take out her board which was completely impossible, well…it's what everyone thought, and he knew exactly every weak point in her body.

Dodging another throwing knife as it stuck into the wall in front of her, she took a left and stopped dead in her tracks. She felt a blade slice through her abdomen as an exact clone of her chaser stood in front of her. _There's two of them? _She thought while a burning sensation began to emerge from around the wound the knife had created. She heard a pair of feet behind her as her original opponent stopped. She heard the sound of metal scraping metal. Two knives were being sharpened. She ground her teeth together. Kat was not going out that easily.

Her hand wrapped around the knife in her stomach, pulling it from the wound. If they were going fight this dirty, she was just going to have to fight dirty back. She chucked the knife at the clone in front of her with lightning speed before it sliced into his head. Sparks flew from the gash as he fell backwards dead. She let out a gasp…sparks? They weren't human…they were robots. A grin grew on her face. A pair of knives flew at her back, but she quickly ducked forward before spinning on her heels and thrusting her shurikens at the robots head. The first two flew past his head while the other two sliced through the metal forehead of the robot. More sparks elicited from the robot as he as well collapsed.

Her communicator fell out of its holder as she sat up, using the wall as a support. Bending over hurt, but she picked the small, yellow device up anyways. She smiled as she gazed at it. _I told you…I didn't need you. _Kat walked down the hallway, leaning against the wall as she went.

"My, my, my…even when wounded, you sure know how to take care of yourself. Too bad it'll be a waste…" She spun around to throw another shuriken, but another hand caught hers, the blades just mere centimeters from his masked face; one half black, the other bronze or maybe orange. She could only see one eye, and it seemed to be examining her, not much to her liking. She tried to force the shurikens a little further, but he was stronger than her. A fist connected with her stomach, right on her wound. She let out a yell, the pain spreading throughout her entire body. He released her wrist, and almost immediately, she collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

"What…are…you…going…to…do?" she panted, secretly reaching into her satchels as he turned his back to her. At first, he didn't respond until a set of arms grabbed her from behind. It was another one of those clones. _Jeez, how many of you are there? _She screamed in her head. Kat couldn't struggle or else risk adding to her pain.

"Nothing big…I'm just going to," he turned again to look at her, "take your powers…" He pulled out some gadget and aimed it right at her, "Don't worry…this is just going to hurt…a lot…" He activated the device as soon as she hit the red button on her communicator.

"Who…are…you?" she asked before the pain ripped through her entire body.

"The name's…Slade…"

Speedy paced back and forth in the living room as they listened to the original Titan's leader talk. Two hours…two hours the spiky haired, boy wonder had lectured them. After the news of Kat's departure reached the other Titans, they wouldn't leave the Titan's East members alone, and it didn't make any of them feel any better. Kat left because of them, and now it was being rubbed right in their faces.

Bumblebee finally couldn't take it anymore as she slammed her fist down on the computer's keyboard, disconnecting the call with Robin. Rubbing her temples with her index fingers, she let out a groan, "How much longer is this going to go on for?"

"It'll never end…" Speedy said blatantly, "…not unless Kat comes back. Even if she did return, I doubt Robin will stop the lectures about teamwork and appreciation and all that shit…" He looked up to look at the girl, "…we shouldn't have let her leave."

The two heard a splash come from the pools as the Atlantean kicked the water in frustration, "I actually agree, but it wasn't like we could've stopped her…she chose to leave. We had to respect her choices…"

"Still…the world out there is too dangerous for her," Speedy explained, plopping himself down on the couch. Bumblebee glared at him.

"She's a Titan! She was trained by Robin, the top fighter here on the Titans team! She has her powers and her weapons…she'll be just fine. Don't doubt that…you got it?" _BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. _Each Titan picked up their communicators, even the twins who had zipped into the room at the last minute.

Aqualad was the first to speak, "Wait…it says the signals coming from-"

"Kat's communicator," the archer interrupted the Atlantean. He looked up at his leader, "so…still think she can take care of herself?" He bolted down the stairs towards the garage before hopping onto his own bike. The others followed, but before they could get in the T-Car, Speedy was already zipping down the road toward the location that was given on his communicator.

Slade listened to the girl's screams as he pulled her powers from her body. It was thrilling to him to watch her squirm in pain. While he enjoyed every bit of the sight, Kat was writhing in complete agony. It felt as if he was ripping her entire insides out from her whole body, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Her throat was becoming hoarse with each shriek that escaped her mouth. She opened her eyes, but everything she could see was red. Something was dripping down her cheeks, and also out her mouth. Swallowing before continuing her screams, she tasted blood. Finally, her body could no longer take the pain as she finally found it getting harder and harder to stay conscious. The darkness consumed her as soon as the pain climaxed.

When the shouting stopped, the man's interest in the girl faded. There was nothing to enjoy anymore. He looked down at the device before shutting it off. He knew that every ounce of her power was in his hands. He gazed up at his drone.

"Release her…" The robot did so as he loosened his grip on the girl. She fell to the ground unconscious before the drone pulled out a knife, placing it at her neck. He went to slice the skin, but a hand stopped him, "Wait…don't." Slade silenced him. Both of them heard a motorcycle approaching before the sounds of footsteps echoing off the walls filled their ears…well, his ears. "Leave her…we must go…"

Speedy gazed down at his communicator, and then back up as he walked through the halls.

"Why do you think she came into here?" Aqualad questioned aloud as the other members of the team followed the archer.

"I don't know, but I don't think she came in here by choice," the red head responded. The twins zipped in front of all of them before disappearing down the halls.

"Mas…Menos!" Bumblebee called after them, "Get back here!" They didn't listen.

"They know where she is…" Speedy whispered before breaking out into a run, following the twins as best as he could. The building was like a maze to Kat's body. There were so many turns that the five Titans had to take before they got to her.

"We have to take her to a hospital now!" Aqualad exclaimed after checking her. He pressed his fingers to her neck, "There's a pulse, but it's faint…and she's lost too much blood already." Speedy lifted her into his arms; her body still limp.

"You guys take the car…I'll take her to the hospital on my bike." Bumblebee was about to argue with the archer when the Atlantean broke in,

"Good idea…you can get there faster that way." The winged girl shut her mouth, "Go…we'll be there as soon as we can." He nodded. He ran back down the halls he had come from before until he finally couldn't take it. Throwing an energy arrow at a wall, it exploded, creating a new exit for him. Why he didn't do that in the first place was unknown to him. He ran out to his bike before mounting it, starting it, and driving down the road towards the hospital. Not even red lights or stop signs would stop him as he zipped down the streets of Steel City. There would be honking horns and people yelling vulgar language at him, but he didn't care. The lights of the hospital caught his masked eyes making him smile in relief.

Pulling up in front of the building, he dismounted his motorcycle, carrying the brown-headed girl inside where he was met with several doctors.

"What happened?" one of the doctors asked. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but she needs help! Please…you need to do something." They nodded.

"Can we get a gurney over here?" they called. A bed was wheeled up to them, and Speedy laid her down on it. Another doctor began analyzing her, "She's lost too much blood already, and she needs surgery…now." Speedy tried to follow them as they pushed her through a pair of double doors, but two nurses stopped him.

"I'm sorry, sir…but you cannot go in there."

"But she's my friend!" he exclaimed, "I need to be with her…" They still didn't allow him. The others arrived a few minutes later to see the red head sitting in the waiting room, looking about ready to kill someone. They ignored the others in the room who kept staring at them while they sat down next the archer.

"Speedy…what did they do with Kat?" Bumblebee asked.

"They took her into the back…I couldn't go with her though," he explained glumly, "…they said that she needed surgery, so that's probably what they're doing right now."

"¿Qué cree usted que pasó con ella? (What do you think happened to her?)" Mas asked looking up at his three older friends. Speedy and Aqualad looked at him confused before Bumblebee cleared it up.

"He asked what we think happened…and I really have no idea…" she said, "Who would want to hurt her, and why wasn't she able to fight them off?" No one spoke. They were all clueless. Kat was very powerful, and yet she still ended up in a hospital with a serious injury. Speedy let out a groan. He was getting sick and tired of waiting. Then again, he wouldn't have to be waiting if they never let Kat leave. If she never left, she wouldn't have been attacked, and if she wasn't attacked, she wouldn't be in a hospital, and if she wasn't in a hospital, they wouldn't be waiting. It all added up. If he had tried harder to keep her, she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Bumblebee looked over at the archer, seeing the sorrow on his face. She didn't need to see his eyes because she already knew he was upset and what it was about. She lightly touched his shoulder, "Hey…everything's going to be okay, and it's not your fault that she's here."

"Maybe not…but I was somewhat responsible-"

"We were _all_ somewhat responsible…" corrected the Atlantean.

"Yeah, but _I_ was actually the one who was trying to stop her…and I failed…"

"_We_ weren't even trying to get her to stay. We weren't doing anything. We feel exactly the same as you do…" Speedy glared at him.

"You don't feel as bad as I do…you never can. I don't even know why I'm saying anything right now to you, you wouldn't understand…"

"Are you serious?" Aqualad exclaimed, "You seriously think that? Because you're absolutely wrong! We understand just the same as you…we feel the same as you do! You're not the only one here who's hurting. Kat was our friend too, not just yours."

"Why don't you just shut up?" The two boys glared at one another, just about to rip each other's throats out, but Bumblebee shoved them away from each other.

"Hey, cool it!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" the archer screamed at her. The twins watched as their friends argued, heads moving back and forth between them as each one spoke.

"¡Alto! ¿No ves lo que estás haciendo? Esto es exactamente lo que Kat hablando. ¡Nunca le gusto cuando sostuvo! (Stop! Don't you see what you are doing? This is exactly what Kat talked about. She never liked it when you argued!)" Mas and Menos exclaimed together, "¿No te recuerdas? Esa fue una de las razones que se fue. (Don't you remember? That was one of the reasons she left.)" Speedy and Aqualad looked to Bumblebee who sighed.

"You're right…"

"Right? Right about what?" Speedy asked.

"Our arguing…it was one of the reasons Kat gave up on our team. Remember? She told us right before she packed to leave…" The two boys muttered under their breaths that they recalled it. "We need to stop…I mean, we are a team. Sparky got us to work like one, and we stopped fighting for awhile, but it didn't last. We seriously need to end all this squabbling…" They nodded their heads in agreement.

"I think you're right…" Aqualad said before elbowing Speedy in the stomach who, at first, glared at him but relaxed soon after.

"Yeah… I guess so. Let's make a pact right now…we shall never fight with each other from this point on…everyone agreed?" They concurred. Mas and Menos walked up to Speedy, their arms held out to him. He smiled before lifting them onto his lap. It was getting late, and they were all tired, especially the twins who were beginning to fall asleep in the archer's lap. Hours went by, and still no word from the doctors came. Speedy's eyes began to droop under his mask. He was the last one of the group to fall asleep, mostly because he refused to let himself doze off.

"Umm…excuse me. Are you the friends of the girl who was rushed in here with the knife wound in her abdomen?" Speedy opened his eyes to see a man in a white coat. He gently hit the others awake before acknowledging the doctor.

"Um…yes sir, we are," he replied, "If I may ask, is she alright?" The doctor smiled.

"She's fine…for now. The surgery was a success. We stopped the bleeding, and we stitched her back up. You were lucky it was a knife wound. The blade was small, so it didn't protrude that far into her body, meaning no major organs were severely damaged." The five let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you think we can see her?" Bumblebee asked.

"Sorry, no…she's still under the effects of our anesthesia, so she won't be awake for a few more hours…I'd suggest you go home and come back in the morning. She should be ready to see you then…" Speedy didn't want to leave, but when Aqualad touched his arm, he knew he had to.

"Yes sir," Bumblebee said, "Come on guys…let's head back to the tower." She turned to look at the doctor, "We'll be back in the morning…"


	3. Chapter 3

Kat let out a groan as her head pounded furiously. Her entire body was sore, and she couldn't even see. The lights she had opened her eyes to were blinding, and they didn't help with the headache that was already engulfing her mind, so she resulted to keeping her eyes shut.

"What do you mean, 'don't sense her powers'?" She ceased all movement as she heard a boy's voice echo through the room. The tone in his voice was upset, maybe even worried as he spoke, but she didn't know why.

"I mean, I can't feel the usual aura that used to be given off by her body, whether she was using her powers or not." _Powers? _She thought, _What are they talking about? _"Wait…she's awake." Almost instantly, the voices in the room silenced. _How the hell did she know that? _She opened her eyes slightly to find a very strange group of people staring at her. Two of the boys were wearing black masks that covered their eyes, there was a girl who was in a purple cloak, another girl was standing next to her and she had wings on her back and very clearly resembled a bee, and the last boy was wearing a blue and black wetsuit and had the most piercing violet eyes in the world. The bed was surrounded in seconds, and her headache only increased when their voices grew louder.

"Kat!" the winged girl exclaimed, "You're awake! We're so glad you're alright!" She blinked up at the girl in confusion. "Wait a minute. Guys look at her eyes…they're…brown and not electric blue." They leaned in closer to look. It was becoming very uncomfortable for her. She carefully put her arms up, so they would move away from her a bit.

"Umm my eyes have always been brown… and who are you?" Kat asked seriously, her gaze wandering from each unknown face to the other, "…do I know you?" Their faces except one went from relieved to scared in a matter of seconds.

"Kat, stop joking around," the redheaded boy in the mask chuckled, "just because you're still mad at us, doesn't mean you have to pretend to not know who we are." She gazed up at him sadly.

"I'm truly sorry…I…I really don't know who you are," she replied before hissing, gripping her head tightly with her hands, "God, my head hurts!" Everyone's head turned to look at the girl in the cloak as they waited for an answer.

"Raven," the spiky haired boy said, "do you think this could just be amnesia?" She shook her head.

"No, the doctor's would have noticed something wrong like that," she explained, "This is has to be much worse. It may be somehow linked with why I can't feel her power anymore."

"Powers?" the girl cut in, "What are you people talking about?"

"Kat…you probably can't remember this, but you are part of a team of superheroes called the Teen Titans," the spiky hair boy explained, "I'm Robin, the leader of all of the Titans, and this is Bumblebee," he pointed to the winged girl, "and she's the leader of the team you're on." Next, he pointed to the violet eyed boy, "That's Aqualad, one of your team members. Next to him is Speedy, and then that's Raven." The other boy in the mask smiled down at her, and the girl in the cloak nodded her head.

She gazed up at them, "No…that's not possible. First of all, I'm just a normal girl who lives in Texas. I go to school, and I have to deal with problems with boys and homework! I am not a superhero! Second of all, they don't exist…you people are insane!"

"Kat," Aqualad said, "It's true. You are a superhero. You fight crime everyday with us, and you're one of the best fighters I've seen. No offense to you Robin." The boy wonder just glared at the violet eyed boy. "We're your friends…would we ever lie to you?"

"You're not my friends!" Kat shouted, "None of you are!"

"Kat-" Speedy reached out his hand for her, but she jumped back on her bed, leaning against the wall behind her. Her eyes widened as she felt something tear. A scream ripped from her lips not only from the wound that reopened on her stomach, but also from her head as her brain beat forcefully against her skull.

"Bumblebee, get a doctor! QUICK!" She ran to the door and started yelling for help while the others laid Kat back down on her back. The girl cried as the pain started to become too overwhelming for her. Gripping her head with her hands, she begged for all the pain to go away. A doctor rushed in with three nurses before ushering the Titans out of the room. Speedy and Aqualad didn't go peacefully though. Kat watched as they argued with the nurses, telling them they had to stay, but the nurses wouldn't allow it.

Speedy paced the floor of the waiting room while they waited. She didn't remember any of them at all…none of them. His friend didn't know who he was. He stopped and looked back at the others who were talking amongst themselves. Walking over, he plopped himself down onto one of the chairs, listening to what they were saying.

"We can't know why she doesn't remember us without knowing what happened to her the night she was rushed in her," Raven said, "I could try using my powers to enter her mind and see if I can find anything, but I don't know if she'll let me."

Bumblebee shook her head, "Most likely not, but what I find interesting is that she remembers everything from before she became a Titan which was…how many years ago?"

"Three…" Aqualad and Speedy said simultaneously. How their leader forgot something as important as that was beyond them.

"And her powers are gone…how did that happen?" the Atlantean questioned, "I mean, someone just doesn't lose their powers."

"Again, I'm going to need to enter her mind to find that out," Raven replied, "but this all has to be linked. Maybe her result of memory loss is due to the fact that she lost her powers. No powers, no way we'd ever found her and made her a Titan." They nodded their heads in agreement.

"That would make sense," Robin said, rubbing his masked eyes with his fingers, "but who would do this?" That's what had everyone stumped. The Brotherhood of Evil was a reasonable choice, but they were all held up in jail and frozen still, as well as most of the villains they had been fighting for years.

"Like I said…there's no way we'll know anything unless I can get into her head," Raven reminded, "and there's not much we can do until then." The doctor who had run into the room to help them finally walked up to the teens in the waiting room.

"Excuse me," he said, gaining their attention, "She's doing better now, but I'd suggest that you don't allow her to move. How she was able to tear the stitches was a surprise to all of us. Now, we're only allowing two at a time…please, don't stress her too much. She's having a hard time as is, understood." The five teens nodded their heads.

"Okay…me and Raven will go in first," Robin stated, getting up from his chair, but Speedy put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Listen here, boy wonder," the archer growled, "I have to go in there. She's my best friend, and I know that I can get her to relax while Raven does her mumbo, jumbo magic stuff to get inside her mind. Please…" The boy looked pleadingly into Robin's eyes before the boy wonder sighed.

"Fine…you and Raven can go." Speedy smiled before following Raven to the same room they were in before. Walking in, they saw Kat lying on the bed, still crying her eyes out.

"Kat?" the archer said softly as he sat down on the bed next to the girl, "Are you alright?" She shook her head.

"No…" she sobbed, "I don't know what's happening anymore!" Speedy looked at Kat with hurt eyes. He hated to see her cry, so he took his hand and started combing it through her hair, and she didn't seem to care anymore.

Raven pulled a chair up next to the bed before speaking, "Kat, do you remember anything that happened the night you got that wound?" She gestured toward the stitches on her body, but the girl shook her head and remained silent. "Well, I'm going to find out what happened, okay?" she said kindly.

Kat turned her head to look at the cloaked girl, "How?" She winced as her headache worsened.

"You see, Raven is a kind of psychic, I guess is how you would put it," Speedy explained, still brushing his fingers through the girl's hair, "She's going to read your mind in a way…" Kat looked up at him scared, but his smile reassured her. "Don't worry…everything's going to be okay. I promise." She nodded her head. For some reason, even though she couldn't remember any of them, she felt the urge to trust them. She watched as Raven close her eyes and started muttering something under her breath. A black shadow escaped her body before advancing on her. She almost moved away again, but Speedy gently took her hand and lightly squeezed it.

The dark figure entered her body through her eyes. At first, all she felt was a fire burning through her veins while the darkness filled her head. The grip she had on Speedy's hand tightened, her other hand clinging onto the railing of the bed for dear life. Her wound began to sting, and her headache began to worsen, but she bore through it.

Raven sat in her chair, eyes shut as she played through the memories that Kat couldn't even remember. She could even see the night of the fire. The flames licking at her back as she stood trapped in the building, the dog in her arms. Moving on, she could see the others "talking" to Kat, and the anger rising in the girl as they "talked." It was the night she had left. Next came the vision of a dark building. Watching everything from the point of view of Kat's, she ran through the hallways, but she couldn't see who was chasing her. Raven's heart began to race as she watched. She turned a corner, and that's when the knife flew through the air and hit her. Speedy noticed Raven jump in her seat before she somewhat relaxed again. The memory fast forwarded, and she let out a gasp when she saw his masked face.

_"What…are…you…going…to…do?" _she heard Kat ask, fear in her voice.

_"Nothing big…I'm just going to…" _She watched Slade turn around and pull out some device, _"take your powers…Don't worry, this is just going to hurt…a lot…" _Raven felt a shock rip through her body; the pain agonizing.

_"Who…are…you?" _Kat's voice was weakening with every second, the pain shooting through her body.

_"The name's…Slade." _Her eyes shot open before she fell out of the chair she was sitting in, the dark shadow returning to her own body in a flash. She couldn't stand or slow down her breathing as she gasped for air.

"Speedy…you need…to…take…me to…Robin," she panted, "…NOW!" He nodded. He gave Kat's hand one last squeeze and a smile before running over to the girl and helping her to her feet. They walked out of the room to the Titans. When Robin saw Raven, he was on his feet and at her side in no time at all. The archer looked up at his Atlantean friend,

"Aqualad, why don't you go check up on Kat? We can handle everything out here…" He didn't move. "Aqualad please!" He shook his head, "GARTH!" The Atlantean flinched, surprised to hear his friend use his real name. "Kat needs someone right now…but I need to stay out here…will you please go?" Garth sighed before nodding his head, walking towards the room the two Titans had just come out of.

Kat watched as the boy walked into the room, slowly shutting the door behind him, "You're name is…" he turned to look at her, "…Aqualad, right?" He smiled.

"Yeah…" he replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to his friend, "…so, how have you been doing?"

"I've been better…my head still hurts, I have a freaking knife wound in my stomach, and I don't know why. I can't remember anything about what you guys are telling me, but for some reason, I believe it all. What happened to me? I mean, how did I end up here in this hospital?" He shrugged.

"We don't know, but that's what Raven was in here for. I think she found out what happened to you, but I'll probably be the last to find out what it is, just like always…"

"Why don't you go back out there then? I mean, it's not like you can have an all out conversation with me because I probably won't know anything you're talking about. I'll be fine here…" she murmured, shutting her eyes to try and make the headache stop. The Atlantean stared at her pained form. Kat kept her eyes shut when she felt the pressure on the bed lessen as Aqualad got up. He was leaving, but it wasn't long before she felt something cold and wet touch her forehead. She slowly opened her eyes to see the boy pressing a wet rag to her head.

"Where did you…What are you-"but he pressed a finger to his lips, shutting her up.

"Just relax…and close your eyes…" he whispered, "…it isn't normal for a headache to be as bad as yours, and I'm not leaving you here to suffer alone. I'm going to try and help…" She nodded her head, closing her eyes once again. The cool water felt good on her skin as Aqualad wiped her face with the rag. He left it lying across her forehead before he started to lightly massage the sides of her head with his hands. A very light purr escaped her throat as her headache lessened slightly. "Feeling better?" he asked. She nodded her head before she grabbed his hands to stop him, and the headache slowly began to worsen. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing's wrong…I'm just…wondering…" she looked up at him, "…what was life like when I was a Titan? I know, it's kind of random, but still…since I can't remember any of it, I want to know…and Speedy mentioned that I was mad at you guys when I first woke up. What's that all about?" He weakly smiled from the girl's curiosity and the mentioning of what his friend had said before.

"I'll tell you…but let me keep doing what I'm doing; it seems to be helping with your headache." She nodded her head before shutting her eyes again. He continued massaging the girl's head before beginning the story.

"Raven, are you sure you saw Slade?" Robin asked seriously as the four teens stood outside the hospital. The cloaked girl nodded her head.

"I saw him, and he specifically said 'the name's…Slade,'" she quoted, "I'm pretty sure that means it was him. He had some kind of device with him that he shot at Kat, and I'm guessing it was the thing that took her powers. I'm telling you, she was in a lot of pain. I would know; I was her for a few seconds. The wound plus that device were not a good combination. The pain was excruciating…I can still feel it, and it was horrible!"

"But why would Slade-"

"Robin…none of us would know what Slade is up to. We haven't seen or heard of any problems from him for almost two years already," Raven interrupted the boy wonder, "Whatever he's up to, we have to make sure we're ready…" He nodded. Speedy looked back into the building before gazing at the spiky haired boy.

"Robin, what are you going to do about Kat?" he asked, "I mean, she doesn't have her powers anymore. You're not planning on taking her off the team, are you?" The boy remained silent as he gazed down at the ground. Bumblebee glared at the boy.

"You'd better not be thinking about doing anything like that!" she yelled, "She still has her weapons, and we can teach her how to fight again. Please, we can't just kick her to the curb!"

Robin tried to explain, "But guys-"

"No buts boy wonder!" Speedy exclaimed, "You are not pulling her from the team! We'll take care of her, and we'll bring her back up to speed on the whole fighting thing!" Again, the boy wonder remained silent. Speedy let out a growl before pushing past the teens, stopping to whisper something to Bee.

"Don't let him get rid of Kat." She nodded her head, and he walked back into the hospital.

"Wait…so I actually ran back into the building?" Kat asked, staring up at the Atlantean in awe. He nodded his head, smiling as well.

"Yep…and you saved the dog," he explained, "The woman who owned the dog was grateful, but it kind of went downhill after that. Bumblebee and Speedy weren't too happy with you. They were basically telling you that you made a poor choice, and you gave up. You just left us that night."

"I left…for that reason?" she questioned before he nodded, "Wow…I wasn't thinking when I made that choice. I'm sorry I left. I shouldn't have." He brushed a bang out of the way of her eyes before grinning down at her.

"It's okay," he said, "You actually had a good reason, but…we didn't do much to stop you. None of us wanted you to go though…-What?" Kat gazed up at him before carefully sitting up, her back against the wall behind her.

"Come closer…" she whispered. A little hesitant, he complied. "Your eyes…" He blinked. "…are violet?" Aqualad nodded his head. "That's cool, and they're so beautiful…" She brought her hand up to brush her finger against his cheek, but she stopped, pulling away sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry…I just got-"but the Atlantean pressed his hand over her mouth to silence her. Something deep down inside of him was boiling, and he didn't want it to stop.

"It's okay," he replied, taking her hand into his before pressing it against his face, "Go on ahead…" She looked at him tentatively, and he nodded his head in approval. She pressed her fingers to his cheek before lightly caressing it; her thumbs tracing the spot under his beautiful, violet eyes. One hand moved further up, stroking his long, black hair. Their faces inched closer and closer with each touch, both getting caught up in the moment. Aqualad's own hand reached under her chin, lifting her head up, so he could look into her eyes. Lips mere centimeters apart, Kat could feel his warm breath against her face. Their eyes began to drift close, and the space between them finally sealed as their lips touched. Both hands fisted in the boys hair as they kissed while his remained under her chin, the other resting on the soft cushions of the bed next to her body.

Both mouths opened as the kiss deepened. Kat opened her eyes for a second and realized that the whole world seemed to just stop. She closed her eyes again, forgetting about everything that had happened. She forgot about the hospital, her wound, her headache that was depleting faster and faster with each second that their lips were connected, and thought about just the boy who was kissing her back. She had just met him…actually, she's known him, but due to the fact she couldn't remember anything, it might as well been their first encounter…and she was already kissing him, but something about him felt right. She didn't know how or why; it just did.

Neither of the two teens heard the door behind them open as the archer poked his head in, the girl's name about to escape his mouth until he finally saw what was happening. His eyes widened under his mask, a gasp escaping his mouth, but he didn't say anything else. A silent scream played in his head, but that's it. He didn't yell; he didn't scream at his friend for kissing his girl. He just shut the door behind him, resisting the urge to run in and strangle the Atlantean. He walked back down the hall towards the waiting room where he sat down quietly, head in his hands as he tried to think. He didn't want to believe it, but he saw it with his own two eyes.

Minutes went by until Kat and Aqualad finally broke the kiss. A few more minutes passed while they just stared at each other breathless, Kat's hands returning to stroking the Atlantean's hair, and his hands gently brushing across her cheeks.

"So," he started, "How's your headache?" She smiled up at him.

"Gone…thanks to you." He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then another to her lips.

"You just needed to relax." She smirked,

"Oh, I'm definitely relaxed." The door behind them opened for the second time, and they immediately shot away from each other as the doctor walked in.

"Are you doing better Kat?" he asked, walking to the other side of the bed to look at the girl closer. She nodded her head, a grin spreading across her face. "That's good to know. I'm just going to do a quick check-up, change your bandages, and then you're free to go. You're being discharged this afternoon." Kat muttered a cool , her smile growing in size. He took out his stethoscope pressing it to her back and chest. "Your breathing is fine…fever is down," he said checking the machine near the bed, "…do you feel any soreness, nausea, pain?" She shook her head. "Good! Now, we just change the bandages, and you can get dressed and get out of here!"

He unwrapped her old bandages, careful of the stitches on her abdomen. He pulled a roll of gauze out the drawer before unraveling it around her stomach, recovering the injury. She winced as the fabric wrapped around her; the pressure on her wound growing uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to tell him it was too tight, but he was the doctor, and she didn't want to upset him. However, she mentally thanked the Atlantean as he spoke,

"Um, sir…I don't mean to be a bother you and tell you you're not doing it right, but the wrapping is too tight." The doctor narrowed his eyes at the boy, but he quickly stopped.

"Boy, I've been doing this for years now, and I know how tight to wrap the gauze. It's fine." Kat shook her head, looking the doctor in the eyes.

"Sir, it's too tight…it's really hurting," she claimed. Both teens barely heard a growl escape his throat as he undid the gauze before rewrapping it. Kat gazed up at Aqualad, a grateful look on her face.

"Better?" the doctor asked, a somewhat sour tone in his voice, but she ignored it and nodded her head. "Okay, your clothes are in that bag on the chair, and when you're done, you can leave your robes on the bed. I'll let you have your privacy." He walked out without another word.

"Do you want me to leave?" Aqualad asked, grabbing her clothes off the chair. She shook her head.

"I'll just change in the bathroom." She gestured towards the small room across from them. She threw her legs over the side of the bed before setting her feet on the ground to stand, but her legs gave way from under the weight, and she fell to the floor.

Aqualad rushed to her side, "Kat! Are you alright?" She shook her head; the headache beginning to return as she gripped her head with her two hands. "Is it your head again?" She nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the pain that was beating her head forcefully. Tears pushed past her shut eyelids as her entire body began to ache.

"Make it stop…" she whispered, "…please, make it stop!" The Atlantean pulled her closer to him; her back pressed against his chest as he hugged her from behind. He began massaging her head once again with his hands, hoping it would work once more. It helped but didn't make the headache go away.

"Here, why don't you try and get dressed, and I'll finish this after, okay?"

"Okay…" he helped her to her feet, putting his arm around her waist to help support her. Kat did her best to dress herself, but it was hard when the only thing she could think about was the massive migraine that was consuming her mind. Stepping out of the bathroom, Aqualad helped her back to the bed before sitting her down, taking a seat behind her. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she hummed in delight as he rubbed her forehead gently, kissing the side of her head occasionally.

"Don't stop…" she murmured under her breath; her migraine beginning to smooth out. The door to the room opened once again, but both teens ignored it, thinking it was just the doctor.

"What is going on in here?" Their heads shot up to see the other Titans standing in the doorway, staring at them in shock. Neither could find an answer as they stuttered.

"I was just…helping with her headache!" Aqualad quickly exclaimed, "It helped before, so I'd thought I'd try and do it again. I mean, rub her head. It relaxes her and gets rid of the headache…"

"Ookay…" Robin dragged out the word, "Doctor said you can leave, so we should head out. Have any of you guys seen Speedy?" Aqualad's eyes widened in shock as soon as the archer's name was spoken.

"Holy crap! Speedy!" He pushed off of Kat before he fell over backwards, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

"Aqualad!" The three rushed over to the Atlantean while Kat leaned over the edge of the bed to look down at him. "Are you okay?" the brown headed girl asked. He nodded; his eyes still wide open.

"I'm fine, but Bee I need to talk to you!" he exclaimed, "NOW!" He bolted upright before grabbing the girl's hand, pulling her out of the room and shutting the door behind him. Kat looked up at Robin and Raven who just shrugged their shoulders.

"Aqualad, what the hell's the matter?" Bumblebee asked, placing her hands on her hips, but the Atlantean ignored her as he muttered to himself as he panicked. "Garth!" He jumped; his gaze falling on her form. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-I completely forgot about Speedy!" he said, "Oh, if he ever finds out what I did…Oh! I-I-I'd be dead! Gods, h-how could I forget?" Bee couldn't take it anymore as he continued his insignificant babbling. She grabbed his shoulders and forced his back against the wall.

"Garth, calm down!" she screamed. He muttered an okay before shutting up. "Good, now tell me what's wrong, and please make sense this time…" He nodded his head.

"Okay…you see, when I walked in, Kat was complaining about how her head was really hurting, so I decided that I would help her by massaging her head, like you saw before," he explained quickly, "and well, she asked me what life was like being a Titan, so I told her stories about her time as a Titan. Everything was fine up until the point where we…" He stopped, not knowing if he could say the last word.

"You?…come on Garth. Out with it…"

He gulped, "…kissed…" Bee's hands dropped from his shoulders as she stared at him stunned, blinking many times.

"Y-Y-You what?"

"We…kissed…"

"Oh…that's what I thought you said…" _Wow, _Aqualad thought, _She's taking this well…_ "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" _Spoke to soon…_ He flinched back as she raised her voice at him.

"Look, Bee, I don't know what happened," he said, "It just felt…so right! I…we…gods! It was amazing! But I forgot all about Speedy, and how he and Kat were together before she left! If he finds out, I'm dead! No…I'm way beyond dead! He'll fucking fry me with one of those arrows of his! He can't find out!"

"Well," Bee said, "He'll find out eventually when Kat starts hanging around you more. He'll know something's up." Aqualad groaned.

"Then…you need to tell me what to do!" he exclaimed, "I mean, what do I choose? Tell Kat I don't like her when I really do and possibly hurt her feelings when I don't want to, or stay with her, and make Speedy even pissier than he already is?" She shrugged.

"This is your choice, Garth…" she said, "…I can't choose for you. Just…do whatever makes you happy." He glared at her.

"Well, that leaves only one choice! What makes me happy is Kat…I've never realized it before, but I really do care for her. I like her a lot…" he replied, "…but Speedy will hate me. I can't have that. We just started to become friends, and I don't want to break his trust…"

"You already did," a voice growled. The two teens turned to see Speedy standing a few feet behind them, a sneer forming on his face.

"Speedy-"but the archer put a hand up to silence the Atlantean.

"Just shut the fuck up…" he snapped, "…I'm heading back to the car." He turned on his heel, not waiting for a response and walked away from them. Aqualad looked back at Bee who just shut her eyes, shaking her head.

"Let's get Kat and head home…" she said.


	4. Chapter 4

Weeks have gone by since Kat was discharged from the hospital. Her wound has healed, only leaving a scar just below her ribs, and she can fight as well as ever before even without her powers. Memories from her Titan life are returning with every day she spends with her team, but she only gets small pieces of memories a day.

Kat back flipped to the pillar behind her as she avoided another energy arrow, pulling up her shield to block the last two that were soaring straight for her. Even without her powers, she was still capable of using her barrier shield. She grabbed her shurikens before throwing them at the last of the arrows, causing them to explode in mid-flight. The gym was covered in smoke, and using this to her advantage, she jumped to next pillar as she searched for Speedy. However, when the smoke cleared and she was in the spot she knew she had seen him in, he was gone. She looked around trying to find him, but she didn't see him. She heard the rope of a bow being released, and more arrows were whizzing towards her. She spun around, pivoting to her left to dodge them. An explosion went off behind her.

"You're getting better…" she heard him say. _At least he's not insulting me…_she thought.

"If you think that's good, just wait till you see what I do next…" She pulled out her ice disks and made sure her shurikens were ready before she threw the disks. She knew he would dodge the first few, so she threw two more and two shurikens not seconds after at the spot he would end up at. He stopped, eyes widen in shock as the tips of the shurikens hit the disks, setting them off in front of the archer (yes, this is just like the episode where Robin fights Madam Rouge…). Half of his body was frozen while the other half was trying his hardest to get out. Seeing her chance, she ran at him, her foot connecting with the ice. The ice barrier shattered, but not able to react fast enough, Speedy couldn't block the punch that slammed into his face. He landed hard on the surface of the column they stood on, sliding to the edge of the pillar with a groan. His bow fell at her feet, and she casually picked it up.

Kat walked over to him, smiling before putting a hand out for him to take. He glared up at her before taking it, getting back up onto his feet. He dusted himself off before he looked up at Kat who was holding his bow out in front of her.

"Here…I think this is yours," she said, grinning up at him. He snatched it from her hand,

"Well, no duh it's mine," he snapped, "Do you see any other archer here?" He swung the bow around to hit her in the head, but she brought up her arm, effectively blocking it. Not giving up his attempt to strike her, he continued swinging the bow, going for her head, her legs, her upper body, but with each attempt came a fail as she defended herself. Seeing an opening, Kat spun before round house kicking the archer's side. He took a few steps backward.

"God damn it!" he cursed, "I'm done today!" With that, he stalked off, heading back into the tower. Kat wanted to run after him, but the look Bee was giving her from the control room window told her not to.

"Kat, great job today. You seriously kicked Speedy's butt today!" her leader said through the speaker, "Now, why don't you come on up here so we can talk…" She nodded her head.

"I'll be there in a few minutes…" she shouted, getting ready to take the long trip up the stairs to the control room.

"Wait!" She stopped. "Why don't you use your jets this time? I can open the window so you can fly in."

"Alright," she agreed, "but how do you activate them again?"

"You have to hit your heels against something, but you have to hit both of them because they activate separately." She muttered an okay before looking down at her boots. An idea formed in her head as her grin widened. Stepping up to the edge of the pillar, she kicked her right foot out before hitting her heel against the column. She flipped and then hit her left heel against the concrete before flying up to her leader who had opened the window for her. She shut off the jets before a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind; a warm kiss was placed on her cheek.

"Good job fighting today, sweetie," Aqualad whispered into her ear, "You're getting better every day, and I give you a ten for the flip." She chuckled,

"Thanks." Someone in the room cleared their throat, causing both teens to look up. Their leader stood there, shaking her head but with a smile on her face.

"You guys are way too much," she muttered, "Now, Kat…any new memories popped into your head today?" The girl shook her head, still grinning up at her Atlantean as he hugged her, trailing kisses up and down her neck. Bumblebee sighed, "Garth…OUT!" The violet eyed boy gazed up at his leader with pleading eyes, begging her to let him stay, but she shook her head and pointed her finger towards the door. "Out…now! Kat can't concentrate when you're here…"

"Fine…I'll be in the kitchen when you're done in here," he whispered into Kat's ear before pressing one last kiss to her head and walking out of the room. Caught in a daze for several seconds, Kat didn't realize that Bumblebee was still trying to talk to her. Her leader snapped her fingers in front of the girl's face, trying to gain her attention. Bee couldn't take it anymore as she smacked Kat upside the head. "Kat! Focus!" Said girl jumped before looking up at her leader.

"What?" she asked innocently. Bee mentally slapped herself at the girl's response.

"Did you have…any more memories…pop into that…very distracted mind of yours?" she asked slowly. The girl shook her head. "Well, what do you have so far?"

"Let's see," she started, looking up at the ceiling of the room while she thought, "I have the memory of our last Fourth of July party; the one where we spent the entire night on the roof eating barbeque and watching the fireworks, as well as Speedy's 'finale' when he set off that giant rocket. I also remember the Christmas that Mas and Menos destroyed the entire main room by accident when they knocked the tree over, and we had to celebrate Christmas with Titans West, and that was also the day that me and Speedy first…" She paused, looking down at the ground, and Bee knew why.

"You two got pushed under the mistletoe by Gar and Kori, and you kissed. I remember…actually, we all remember that one," Bee prompted. She looked at Kat whose face fell in grief. "Hey…what's the matter?" she asked softly, lightly touching the girl on the shoulder.

"It's Roy…he's still pissed at me," she replied, "and what upsets me more is that it's because of the fact that I'm with Garth. It's not my fault…well, not entirely my fault, that I couldn't remember that me and him were…" She sighed, "…together before, and when I woke up and Garth was being so kind and sweet and helpful…I just—I hate the fact that he won't even look at me without having some witty comment, insult, or just a glare to give me. He won't even look at Garth anymore! They were starting to become friends, and I ruined it!" She pounded her fists on the control panel in the room as she vented; Bee patting her back in support (Yeah…great job Bee…).

Kat continued, "And what makes it worse it that I'm remembering all the memories of me, Garth, and him hanging out and just being…happy…like our trips to the beach to stare at the stars, and all those times we would go out and just walk around the city. Seeing these memories, it just makes me wonder," she looked up at Bee, "What happened? And is there any way I can fix it?"

Bumblebee wrapped her arms around Kat in an attempt to cheer her up, but the girl just pushed her away, and began walking towards the door. "Look, Kat, you can't be too upset about this. Garth likes you, and so does Speedy. This is your call to make…you have to choose what to do…" Kat whispered an okay. "Are you going to be alright?" She nodded her head in response to the girl's question.

"I'll be fine…Garth should know how to make me feel better," she answered. _Yeah, and I'll try talking to Speedy. Maybe he'll actually say something nice to me…_As if reading her mind, Bee turned on her,

"Kat…and maybe you should hold off on Speedy for awhile." She glared at her leader,

"Come on! It's been how many weeks already?" she exclaimed, "If I don't talk to him about this, he'll probably never stop acting like a jerk towards me and Garth…and I'll never be able to apologize because he won't want to listen to me anymore. Please, Bee…" She shook her head.

"Just wait a little longer. He needs to learn to get over this himself because he's just being incredibly stubborn. If he's not over this in a few more days, then I'll let you talk to him, okay?" A growl formed in Kat's throat, but she held it in, nodding her head.

Walking up the stairs to the kitchen, she hoped to see Aqualad sitting on the counter, but he wasn't there. She let out a sigh before grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge and walking over to the railing that allowed her to peer into the living room and the pool that were underneath her. The twins were playing their Gamestation down below, and Speedy sat on the opposite side of the couch, reading a magazine. Kat took a sip from her water as she watched the twin's game, but when she gazed back at Speedy, he was gone. She leaned forward against the railing, looking back and forth while trying to find the archer, but he was nowhere to be found. She felt an arm wrap around her waist, and the water bottle fell out of her hand and over the railing as she jumped in surprise, a squeal escaping her lips. However, the water didn't hit the ground, just the bottle, as it floated in the air.

Kat looked up to see Aqualad standing behind her, controlling the water as he held his other hand up in a fist. He looked at her apologetically before kissing her head.

"Sorry…I went back to my room to change. I-I-I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," she replied, pushing away from the Atlantean and walking back to the kitchen. He let his gaze follow her as she plopped herself down on the counter. She grabbed a chocolate kiss from the bowl next to her before unwrapping it and eating it. _That's weird, _Aqualad thought, pushing the water until it was over his pool and letting go of the liquid as it poured into his tank, _She never eats those chocolates. They're there every day, and she's never touched them once. _He walked over, watching as she popped another piece of chocolate into her mouth. The Atlantean brought his hand up and brushed away a few pieces of stray hair that had fallen in front of the brown-eyed girl's face.

"You okay?" he asked, trying to look into her eyes, but she didn't say anything. She thought that Garth would be able to make her feel better, but now looking at him, all she could feel was guilt. His face was a reminder of why Roy was mad at her. She tried not to look at him. It was wrong for her to not though because…they were together. Hurt and confusion filled Aqualad's eyes as he watched her avoid eye contact with him. "Kat…is something wrong?" She nodded her head, still focusing her gaze on the bowl of chocolate instead of his violet ones. She knew if she looked into his eyes, she would just melt into him. Finally, he gave up and took her face into his hands, forcing her eyes up to look at him. "Tell me…please." He brushed his thumbs across her cheeks.

Kat grabbed his hands, stopping him completely before moving his hands away from her face, "It's nothing," was her reply, and they both knew it was a lie. She tried to move away from the Atlantean, but he grabbed her wrists and forced her towards him.

"Please…tell me what's wrong," he begged her, holding her closer to his body, but Kat still didn't say anything. She just buried her face into the t-shirt he had changed into it, so she wouldn't have to look at him. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, rubbing her back soothingly, causing the girl to purr. "Can you at least tell me what this problem is about?"

She murmured something, but he didn't hear it, "Who?"

"Roy…" she whispered louder for him to hear, "The problem's about Roy…" She felt the Atlantean stiffen before he pulled away from her.

"Do you still…you know…li-"

"Oh no!" she interrupted him, "I don't like him…"_Just a little actually._ "…It's nothing like that. I just…miss him I guess." He looked at her confused, an eyebrow cocked up.

"You miss him? How could you miss him?" he asked, "You see him everyday…" A feeble smile formed on her face,

"I mean, I miss him hanging out with us. All the memories I have right now are of us only, and we're always smiling and laughing. I miss that. I miss the three of us spending time together and playing pranks on Bee, and running for our lives when she catches us. I miss Friday nights when we would stay up all night because we knew we didn't have training the next morning, and we'd just talk and tell jokes the entire time. I miss walking into the main room to see you two laughing, and lightly hitting each other as a joke, and how I'd run up and tackle you both." Aqualad wiped away the tear that had broken free from her eyes while she continued talking, more tears soon following. He knew if she kept going, she was going to break down, and he didn't want to see her cry. "I miss running down the beach, trying to outrun you two after dumping a bucket of sand on you guys. I miss-hmph," The Atlantean softly pressed his lips against hers, finally silencing her. Her eyes blinked open a bit before slowly drifting close on instinct as everything left her mind in an instant.

Pressing her against the counter behind her, Garth added more force behind the kiss, his hands placed lightly on her hips. His tongue snaked greedily into her mouth as the kiss deepened, and he could taste the sugary, sweet chocolate that was coating her mouth. He could feel the vibrations rumbling in her throat as she moaned. Her arms moved up and around his neck as she pulled him closer, and it wasn't long before Kat had melted entirely into the boy's arms, clinging to him as her knees threatened to give out beneath her. Everything she had talked to Bee about had left her train of thought. Not even Roy seemed to be worry to her anymore. Whenever she kissed her Atlantean, all she could think about was him and the kiss.

"Does Bee know we have a pair of Sucker Fish in this tower?" the archer's voice rang through their ears before the two teens pulled apart from each other. Aqualad glared at Speedy, a harsh tone in his voice as he spoke,

"Roy, why don't you just leave us the hell alone?"

"Aw, is fishy throwing a little temper tantrum because I interrupted him and his little girlfriend's make-out session?" Kat could feel the Atlantean beginning to tremble as he glowered at the archer, "Don't worry about me. You can continue sucking on her face all you want…I don't mind." He opened the fridge and began rummaging through the different items in the box, looking for something to eat while Kat and Garth just watched him. Well, Kat watched him before looking back up at Garth who was glaring daggers at the red head. Let's just say, if looks could kill, Speedy would be lying on the ground dead by now.

"Well, I _do _mind…Robin…" the archer went rigid, "…now leave!" Speedy stood straight up, shutting the refrigerator door harshly before turning on them, a deadly look on his face.

"What did you call me?" he snarled, grinding his teeth together. The Atlantean's lips curled into a smile, happy he was still able to get that kind of reaction out of the red head. He went to step closer, but Kat knew what was about to happen, and she stepped in front of him to stop him.

"Garth…let it go…" she pleaded, her hands resting on his shoulders to hold him back, but he ignored her, pushing past her to get closer to Speedy.

"I don't think I called you anything…_Robin_…" He smirked when the archer tensed once again at the nickname. In just a few seconds, Speedy had Aqualad by the collar of his shirt, his face inches from his as he sneered at him.

"I told you to never call me that," he snapped , "I am my own person! I am nothing like that spiky haired, egotistical, drama queen, boy wonder! You got that, _unitard guy_!"The Atlantean shoved the red head away from him, scowling at him.

"You're right…you are nothing like Robin," Aqualad growled, "You're more self-centered, more hot headed, and a bigger drama queen than any girl on this planet, that also including all the girls I knew underwater! You're extremely stubborn, and all you really care about is your hair! All you're ever doing is looking in that damn mirror of yours!" Speedy's glare worsened. "I mean, you spend more time in front of a mirror than any girl that I have ever met! That is just not right!" The red head was trembling in fury as he tried to hold himself back, so he wouldn't kill the other…even though he really wanted to.

"You know what's not right?" the archer snarled, "You stealing _my_ girlfriend! She had absolutely no feelings for you at all, but as soon as she loses her memory, you're all like, 'Oh, hi I'm fishboy, wanna go out with me? Oh, Speedy who? No, he's not important!' and she's all like, 'Oh sure! Why not? You're being so sweet and nice to me, I'd to love to go out with you!' Yeah, just forget about me completely because I'm not a freaking prince from Atlantis! Actually…" he stopped for a second, "…I'm not an _exiled _prince from Atlantis!" This time, the archer turned to Kat, "Yeah, Kat…you probably feel _so_ sorry for him! Fishboy got kicked out of his home, and you have to be all lovey dovey, googly eyed towards him."

"Hey!" Garth shoved him, "You leave her out of this!"

"Guys, please stop!" Kat begged, once again stepping in between the two boys, but something snapped inside of Speedy. His anger had risen to high, and he finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Kat, just SHUT UP!" His hand swung out and slapped her across the face with such force that she had to grab onto the counter top to keep from falling. Bumblebee and the twins rushed in just as the blow was made; the leader's questions getting caught in her throat. Kat's hand covered the spot on her cheek where he had hit her; the tears welling in her eyes in hurt and surprise. Speedy's own eyes widened before he looked back and forth between the girl and his hand. He couldn't believe it he did that.

"Kat!" Garth quickly moved to her side to help her, but she pushed him away, lowering her hand from her cheek to look up at the two boys. Even Speedy flinched along with the Atlantean when they got a good look at the damage. His hand print was nearly defined on the side of her face, redness completely overtaking her light complexion.

"Just stay away from me!" she sobbed, backing away from them. "Why can't you two just get along again instead of fighting like this? You two used to hang out so much, but why does that all have to change as soon as I find someone else to be with?"

"Because this 'someone else' is…or _was_ my best friend!" Speedy retorted, "How would you feel if I started dating your best friend after breaking up with you?"

"I'd probably feel bad too, but I wouldn't go around hating my friend and be as stubborn as ever!" she screamed, "Look…" she gazed up at Bee before mouthing the words I'm sorry to her. She looked back at the archer, "…I'm sorry, okay, and if you don't think I feel guilty about any of this, you're wrong! I feel terrible! Not a day goes by that I don't feel bad about any of this, and you're insults and glares do not make me feel any better! I wish I could go back to the day that I left, so I could stop myself from leaving, and everything would just go back to normal! But I can't! Please…I just really want you two to start being friends again!" Kat turned to run, but she stopped before turning to look at the Atlantean, "Garth…I'm sorry, but we're done! You're very sweet and kind, but I can't take all this fighting anymore! Until you two stop arguing, I never want to talk to you guys ever again!" She bolted past Bumblebee and the twins before running to her room, but she didn't bother to lock it behind her. She slid down the face of the door crying, sitting down on the ground before hugging her knees close to her chest. The place on her cheek stung tremendously with every light touch she made to it.

Bee debated whether she should go talk to the girl, or send the twins instead, so she could yell at the archer and Atlantean. She chose the latter, "Mas, Menos, why don't you go check up on Kat and keep her company." They nodded their heads before zooming down the hallway to the girl's room. As soon as the doors behind her closed, Bee turned to look at the two boys who were trying oh so desperately to avoid her gaze before walking towards them. "What the hell is the matter with you two? You two just don't know when to stop? I mean, come on! You're fighting over a girl…that's just pathetic that you're letting it destroy your friendship!"

Aqualad tried to explain, "Bee, just listen-"

"No, you listen!" she pointed her finger in his face, "I am getting sick and tired of you two fighting! You're ruining the team because of it! Not only do I have to handle you two, I have to handle Kat with her guilty conscience, the twins because they're starting to get very curious about all this, and I don't want them to know, and also Robin and the other westers because of this whole Slade deal! Now, by the time I walk back into this room, I want you two to be the best of friends, you got that? Neither of you talk to Kat, or else you'll make this worst…when you two can finally sit in a room without killing each other, and I'll be the judge of that, then I'll let you go speak to her. Until then, you will sit at this counter, and you will talk, and you will listen to one another! Understood?" They nodded their heads in fear, and with one last huff, she made her way downstairs to the living room where she sat on the couch. From there, she'd be able to hear the two boys and keep an eye on them.

Garth sat down on of the stools in front of the counter before gesturing for the archer to sit in the one next to him. The red head let out a groan before taking a seat beside him. He grabbed the bowl of chocolates, sliding it in between them.

"Alright fish-…I mean Garth…" he began, snatching up a piece of chocolate, "…where do we start?"

**Chapter 4 done! Thank Neptune! …Sorry, I'm starting to really like Aqualad/Garth! To those of my friends who are reading this story, that doesn't mean he's going to replace Speedy in my number one spot for favorite Titan! Next chapter, Slade is going to make his grand appearance…or is he? You'll have to read it to find out…as soon as I put it up I mean…**

**And there's a reason he needs Kat's power, but again, you'll need to keep reading! For those of you who are reading, THANK YOU! I hope you're enjoying it! Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Slade sat in front of his computer, his chin resting on his entwined fingers as his elbows were propped on top of the desk in front of him. Pressing the enter button on his keyboard, the screen's background maneuvered from the Titan's East control room to the kitchen as he monitored Kat's actions. He couldn't hear anything though as he watched her ascend the stairs to the kitchen area. He wasn't expecting her to return to the Titans or for the Titans to take her back in, but seeing her fight now, he understood why they kept her. It's only been weeks, and she was already fighting like a pro.

Hitting the up arrow key a few times, he zoomed in on her face as the water bender of the team kissed her, "Tell me, Wintergreen," His butler stopped dusting one of the vases in the master study before turning to look at his master, "Why did I decide not to try and recruit her as my apprentice?"

"Well, sir," the old man began, "You said that it was because you didn't want to try and do it a third time, considering the first two tries to make a Titan an apprentice failed. Why risk having another failure were your exact words…sir." The man nodded, remembering their conversation from months ago. "But I was a little surprised sir…"

"About what?" he looked up at his butler.

"From the way you have been observing her sir, it would seem like you _are _trying to recruit her. It's what we all thought…we meaning the others working here." Slade, however, had stopped listening. His attention was drawn to the computer screen once again as he observed a fight unfold between the archer and the Atlantean of the Titan's team. A smile grew underneath his mask, watching as the red head struck the brown headed girl. "Sir?"

"I'm sorry, Wintergreen…I got a little distracted. It seems like three of our Titans aren't getting along that well anymore…" He clicked the enter button again just in time to see the girl run into her bedroom before a pair of small speedsters stopped outside the door.

"What do you plan to do sir?"

"Nothing…but this little fight might just play a part in my original plan. Wintergreen, are the devices in place?"

"Yes sir. One in Steel City, the other in Jump City. Just as you requested."

"Good…" The twins sped away from the door. He hit the enter button on his keyboard once more, Kat's room filling the screen before he zoomed in on the girl who had moved from the floor to her bed, hugging the pillows tight to her body. "…Wintergreen…leave. I believe it's time to make a call to our little friend…"

"¡Kat! ¡Por favor, nos dejan entrar(Kat! Please let us in!)!" Mas and Menos exclaimed, pounding on the door of her room. As soon as she heard the twins' voices, she immediately locked her door. It may have been just the twins, but she didn't feel like trying to talk to anybody. She just wanted to be alone, so she could think. How could Speedy hit her? Was he really that mad at her that he would strike her? He couldn't have been…well, she didn't think he could have been. It had been weeks, so one would think that Speedy would get over it, but no. He was still as angry as ever. Did she really hurt him that much?

Finally, the twins' voices disappeared as they zoomed off. Kat didn't open her door to make sure they were gone though. She knew they weren't there. It wasn't like they were going to trick her or do anything. They were sweet and all, but when someone wanted their privacy, they usually gave it to them, no matter the condition the person was in. She stood up and trudged to her bed before collapsing onto the comforter, grabbing one of the pillows before muffling her sobs with the fabric as she pressed her face into it. She clung to the pillow, and the comforters, flinching when the material of the pillow would rub her cheek.

_Ring, ring, ring! _She lifted her head off the tear covered pillow, looking at her computer as it signaled an incoming video call. It was probably one of her friend's from her life before she became a Titan; it usually was. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before crawling across her bed to her laptop, sitting herself down on the chair in front of her desk. Wiping her eyes once more, she moved the mouse over the answer button before clicking on it.

A light escaped the built in camera on her laptop, and she backed away in shock as a figure formed next to her. She recognized the black suit, the black and orange mask, and the one cold eye that bore a hole through her body.

"Hello…Kat…" She screamed.

"Roy…for the thousandth time, I'm sorry," Garth apologized, pulling the empty bowl of chocolates away from the archer, "I wasn't thinking when I kissed her that day in the hospital. I forgot about you…" Speedy glared at him, so the Atlantean quickly added, "…no offense!" The archer shook his head, turning away from him. "You're not seriously going to hold this grudge for the rest of your life, are you? I mean, come on...it's stupid, all this fighting. Why can't we just be friends again?"

"Because you _stole my girlfriend_! Best friends do not do that!" Speedy exclaimed, "I loved her, and you knew that, and this whole 'I forgot about you' stuff is bullshit! You couldn't have forgotten about me because before she left, me and her were together every single freaking day, so it's highly unlikely that you forgot all of that in _one_ day!" Garth sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers as he thought.

"You talk about love," he began, "but if you truly loved Kat, you would have been happy with her choice of being with me. As weird as that may sound, it's true. I know you loved her, but I can't tell anymore. By the way you're acting, people would think that you and her are enemies…that's how you treat her. Even during training days, there's no mercy! You fight like her like you would a criminal!"

"Well, isn't that better than going easy on her?" Roy asked, slamming his fists on the countertop, "She gets more practice for fights outside in the real world! The people out there are not going to be merciful, so why should _I _go easy on her if it's not doing her any good? I mean, if we had trained her like we do now, she might have stood a chance against Slade! She might have been able to avoid the whole 'losing my memory' thing if we had just been harder on her during our fights!" It clicked in the Atlantean's head; that's how it was all connected. Back before Kat lost her memory, during training days, Speedy and her would always joke around and go easy on one another, but they didn't mind because she would do a fine job fighting criminals. Now, the archer probably thought it was all his fault that she didn't get the proper training she did. "If I hadn't gone easy on her before, she probably wouldn't have ended up getting hurt." Just like the Atlantean thought; he was blaming himself again for Kat's accident. Something glistened down the side of Roy's cheek, and Garth tried to get a better look, but the archer wiped it away as fast as he could. The Altantean knew what it was though.

He put a hand on the archer's shoulder, "Roy…" Speedy shrugged the hand off his shoulder, "…you shouldn't be mad at yourself right now. You should be mad at me and Karen because we watched you guys train, and we did nothing to stop you from goofing off. We should have been yelling at you guys to get serious, but we didn't. Sometimes, you just have to stop blaming yourself and move on."

"I couldn't do that…not without her…" he smirked, "…that sounded so cheesy just now." Garth shook his head; at least he was…somewhat…smiling.

"She still would have been with you either way…" The archer looked at him like he was crazy, "…what I mean is that she still would have been your friend."

"Well, I don't want to be just friends! I want to be more that that!"

"But Kat didn't! She just wanted you to be her friend…and you kept pushing her away. If you loved her, you wouldn't have done that." The archer remained silent, so Garth continued, "Look, all the training and how you've been fighting her kind of makes me believe that you do have feelings for her because you're trying to fix something that could have easily helped prevent a problem. You're trying to make her a better fighter, I get that, but right now, Kat needs a friend to be there for her; not two boys screaming at each other over a girl." Speedy nodded his head in agreement. "So…do you think we can just forget this whole thing ever happened and be friends again?"

Roy looked up at him, a smile…a real smile was spread across his face, "Yeah…all this arguing is taking a lot out of me." A high pitch scream broke through the air of the tower, and both boys recognized whose it was in a heartbeat. They only heard is so many times when she was in deep trouble.

"Kat!" The five Titans stood outside her door, pounding on the metal begging her to open it. The girl tried to go unlock it, but Slade stepped in front of her, hitting her across the face and sent her to the ground.

"Wait…you're just a hologram!" she exclaimed, "How the hell-"

"There's a lot that I can do that you do not know about…" He stepped closer to her, "…now, if you try to open that door, I promise that you'll be in more pain than that night I took your powers." She nodded her head; backing away from the man with every step he took that brought him closer to her.

"W-What do you want from me?" she asked; finally getting back up on her feet. He stopped, noticing the fear in her voice as she spoke.

"My, my, my…this is a shame," he said, "I was expecting more a fight from you, but it seems that I was wrong."

"Well, I'm sorry," she whispered, sarcasm burning in her throat as she tried not to be afraid. After all her training, she almost fell back into a fearful state just because of one visit from the man who made her lose her memory, "Things haven't exactly been that great around here…"

"Oh, I know. That conceited archer of yours had no right to hit you." Her head jerked up to look at him; the question of how he knew that lingering on her tongue, "Oh, you didn't know? I've been watching you and your little friends for quite awhile…especially you. You…are a mystery to me." Her shocked gaze never left her face. He was watching her? She backed up a few more steps, hitting the wall behind her. He smirked under his mask, understanding why she was still upset. "Now, you don't think I'd ever watch you while you're getting dressed, do you?...okay, maybe just once." She glared at him, feeling more violated than ever.

"You sick bastard…" she hissed; her hands hesitantly covering herself as she hugged her body tight.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," he teased as he brought his hand up to touch her cheek, "You have quite a beautiful body…" She jerked her face away from his hand and quickly ran around him. He chuckled, "Besides, is that anyway to talk to the man who's trying to give you a chance to save your city?"

"What…what do you mean?" she stopped dead in her tracks, turning around to face him.

"I didn't take your power for no reason...I needed it for a device of mine…actually, two devices of mine. One is here in Steel City while the other is in Jump City."

"What are these devices?"

"Bombs my dear," he replied, "Both are powerful enough to destroy both cities, and it's all thanks to your powers. The electricity I took from your body is the main power source of these devices, and nothing can shut them off...except for the switch that I have of course. When the one in your city goes off, it takes five minutes before the next one does…unless something disturbs the current the electricity flows through."

"How?"

"A person has to step in the path of it, and the voltage is too powerful for anyone to withstand; even your little superhero friends who have electric powers would die because the electricity would just be too much for them to handle."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked. She couldn't believe that he giving away his plan to her. It just wasn't Slade…or at least the Slade Robin had described.

"To maybe give you a chance to stop your city from being destroyed…it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to stop it, but I should at least let you have your chance. However," he turned on her, "…there might be another way for you to stop it…" The tone in his voice was eerie, and she didn't like the way he was eyeing her.

"What do I have to do?" Kat questioned slowly. In just a few seconds, Slade had the girl pinned to the wall; her arms held above her head.

"I think it's pretty obvious what you have to do, my darling," he whispered, licking his lips in anticipation, but she couldn't see his mouth.

"L-let g-go of me!" she screamed, but he didn't release her. He was too strong, and not even her kicks to his legs and sides made him let go. The door exploded off its hinges and slammed into the masked man, knocking him onto the ground. Speedy and Aqualad had the scariest looks on their faces. Their teeth were practically bared as they glared at the masked man who was getting up from the ground, but a wall of water from the bathroom sink slammed into him, sending him back to the ground, and the end of a bow struck him over the head.

Slade let out a groan, "You will pay for that…you have twenty-four hours…good luck with the bomb." And with that, he disappeared. The two boys were pissed he was gone, but a sob escaped their friend's lips; immediately bringing them back to reality. Bumblebee was holding Kat, the girl's head buried in their leader's shoulder.

"Kat…" the archer lightly touched the girl's arm, "…don't cry. Everything's okay now…" She didn't respond. She could still feel those hands gripping her wrists as they prepared to violate her. He was too strong for her. After all her training, she was still a weakling; still a terrified child around that man. "Bee…maybe you should go call Robin and tell him what happened. They need to know about these bombs…" She nodded before hesitantly letting go of Kat, running out the room with the twins hot on her trail.

The remaining boys sat the girl down on her bed before she clung to the archer's uniform, staining the fabric of his clothing. He rubbed her back, comforting her as best as he could while Garth brushed his fingers through the girl's hair. They hated to see her cry. Whispering kind words to her, she slowly calmed down.

"It's okay Kat," the Atlantean murmured, "We're here…"

"I have to stop it…" They looked at her confused, "…I have to stop that bomb…"

"How? The only way you can is if…you sacrifice yourself," Speedy thought for a moment, "Wait…you aren't planning on actually doing that are you?" She didn't respond.

"Kat…we'll figure out another way to stop the bomb…" Garth reassured her, "…if we can't, then we'll evacuate the city and get everyone to safety. No one has to die…" Kat ignored them. Steel City was her home, and she was not going to let it get destroyed. It was her power that was controlling the machine, so she was going to do her best to stop it; no matter the consequences.

**I'm sorry…this chapter really sucks. It was kind of rushed and all. I've been busy with other stuff, and I've been having massive writer's block! It's not even funny! I've kind of been more focused on other stories for Speedy and Aqualad. I'm going to try and finish this in two or three more chapters, so I can be happy to write other (better) stories! Thanks for at least reading it!**


	6. Chapter 6

Kat looked back and forth between the two devices that were rigged to go off in seven minutes. The air around her was silent except for the beeping coming from the timer as it counted down to destruction. The city was completely empty; the evacuation process a success. She too was supposed to be leaving with the rest of her team, but she had other plans in mind. No one, not even her own teammates, could understand what she was about to do. Kat felt that all the blame was to be put on her. Steel City was going to be destroyed in…the timer wound down another minute…six minutes.

Just ten minutes before, she was standing in the main room of the tower, waiting for just the right time to make her move. Bee left the room, the room now completely deserted. She quickly grabbed her keys off the counter before rushing down to the garage, taking two steps at a time. She knew she had to get out of there fast, or the others would stop her. Her bike roared to life before she released the clutch, zooming down the wet roads that led to the soon to be fallen Steel City.

It didn't take long to find the devices. They were giving off really strong energy signals that her built in computer detected them without her instruction. It was her power that was emitting such a strong signal, and she thanked God that it was or she probably would never get there in time to stop the explosion. It didn't surprise her when she checked the coordinates to see the bomb was located in the center of the city, on the heli-pad at the top of one of the many corporate buildings. One device, the power supply, was on one side of the pad, the actual bomb on the other.

Five minutes…

_"A person has to step in the path of it…"_is what Slade had said. "It" meaning the current, and she knew why it had to be a person. Kat's power could easily split through inanimate objects if she was just trying to shoot it, and it would burn a hole right through the very material it was made of. However, it couldn't do this to humans, and apparently robots as well. All it would is electrocute the person and knock them unconscious, so using an object other than a person to block the current would still lead to the utter destruction of her home.

Four minutes…

_"Even your little superhero friends who have electric powers would die because the electricity would just be too much for them to handle." _She believed that too. When she had her power, it was never so tightly contained before, so it was never a threat to a human's life, but that it was being concentrated into one small current, it would be deadly to get caught in the path of the electricity. She could even see the power now, and it was completely unstable. It could kill someone with just one shock.

Three minutes to go. She took a deep breath before walking to the center of the heli-pad, effectively putting herself in between the two devices. How did she know that the electricity wasn't going to rip right through her since it was more concentrated now? She didn't know…Was she going to survive and still get to see her friends one last time? Most likely not…but she didn't care if she did or not. She was going to save her city…no, her home. She had lived there for too long now, and she had made too many memories in the city with Speedy and Aqualad. She wanted to give the team more chances to make more memories even if it meant she wasn't go to be there with them. She didn't care if she could make it out alive with the rest of the team. The choice she was making was her own, and she felt it was the right choice.

"KAT!" _Damn it, _she thought, _I forgot about the tracking device in my bike! _Speedy and Aqualad were running up the stairs to the roof, but she wasn't going to let them stop her. Concentrating, she surrounded the entire heli-pad with her shield, preventing anyone from getting in. Speedy, not noticing this, ran face first into the barrier, letting out a groan as he rubbed his forehead. Kat would have laughed at that at any other time, but at that moment, nothing was humorous to her anymore. Aqualad pounded on the shield, but his attempts were useless. Her shield was always too strong for anyone to break through. They would need the biggest possible explosion ever to get through it.

"Kat…please don't do this!" The Atlantean exclaimed, never ceasing his attempts to break through the barrier. She ignored him as she turned her back to them.

"Goddamn it Kat!" Speedy cursed, "You don't have to do this! The people of the city are safe and out of harm's way of the bomb! It can go off, and no one will get hurt!"

Two minutes to go…

"I have to save the city…" she murmured just loud enough for them to hear.

"What is there to save? Buildings? Trees that are already dying and decaying because of all the damn pollution?" He shouted, "It's not worth saving! This hell hole we call a city is not more important than your life! Now, stop being so stupid, and let's get out of here!" Kat let out a low growl before turning on her heel to face the archer and Atlantean.

"Now…doesn't that sound familiar?" she glared at him, "You said something like that the day I left the team. Don't you remember? You said something about how my life was more important than that dog's, and how I made the stupidest choice ever in my life!"

"Well, you're making an even stupider choice right now!" he retorted. Aqualad put a hand on the archer's shoulder, stopping him from his small tirade.

"Speedy…calm down," he whispered before looking back up at Kat, "…You don't need to do this. The city can be rebuilt, and so can the tower, but you can't be brought back to life." She turned her head as she tried not to cry, "Kat, please…none of us want you to go. None of us want you to die. Don't do this…" One minute…the seconds were winding down. She dropped the shield, and the two boys ran to her and hugged her tight.

"I'm sorry…I was just thinking that this was my home… your home, and I didn't want it to get destroyed because of me. It's my power…so I feel…responsible! And for some reason, I feel like this happened before, but I can't remember what, and if it did, I don't want it to happen again!" Speedy and Aqualad broke eye contact with her. They knew why she was having that feeling.

"Look, I'm glad that you're not going to kill yourself, but um…" Speedy pointed to the timer…forty seconds.

"Shit!" Kat screamed, "We have to get out of here now!" They started running towards the stairs, but she stopped. The building was huge. They'd never make it downstairs before the bomb would go off. She looked over the edge of the roof and could see her bike and Speedy's bike parked at the bottom, but they could never jump. It was too high, and they'd most likely never survive the jump. _Well, it seems I'm gonna die either way…_she thought. She looked over. There was another building across from them; this one a little lower to the ground.

"Guys!" they stopped, turning around to look at her, "We can't go back into the building. We need to jump!"

"Well, I think she's officially lost it!" Speedy exclaimed, grabbing his friend's arm to pull her along with them, but she pulled her arm out of his grasp and pointed to the building across from them.

"You can make that jump…but we have to hurry! If we can get our bikes and get as far away as possible from this building, I can probably create a shield that can protect us from the full effects of the explosion…"

"Are you sure?" She looked up at the Atlantean, shaking her head.

"No…but we have to try…" She looked back at the timer. There were thirty seconds left, "…you have to jump. Roy, Garth, if we don't, then there was no point in you coming up here to stop me…" The red head sighed, strapping his bow to his side.

"Let's do it…Kat, you can hurry up and fly down to the ground, Aqualad and I are right behind you…" She nodded before activating her jets. She hovered in the air for a second before flying down to her bike, landing on the ground. Roy and Garth backed up a bit before running towards the ledge, jumping to the other building's rooftop. The next jump wasn't too bad as it was not that high off the ground unlike the other building. Before Kat knew it, both boys were mounting the other bike and were ready to go. The engines started, and they zoomed down the streets of the city.

Kat was starting to doubt her plan now. Even if they did get far enough and she'd get her shield up, she wasn't sure if they would survive. The amount of power in that device was going to create a huge explosion that she wasn't sure if her shield would be strong enough to protect them from it.

"Kat, your shield!" Aqualad yelled at her. She nodded her head. It was worth a try. They had gotten this far, so now all she had to was hope it would work. The barrier surrounded the two bikes and its riders just as the bomb exploded. A cloud of fire rose in the sky, expanding out as it grew bigger. She looked over her shoulder and could see the multiple glass windows of the buildings behind them shattering, the structures starting to give way from under the pressure of the explosion. It was getting closer, and their bikes were already maxed out.

She cursed to herself. She should have to stayed back there and stopped the bomb from going off, but it was too late to go back. The pressure hit her shield, and she lost her ability to breathe. The shield was destroyed, and everything slowed down. The bike hitched and tossed her off her seat, her body slamming into the ground. Her head smashed into the curb. The air around her was becoming hotter. It was burning her. Consciousness was slowly leaving her, and the last thing she saw was Speedy and Aqualad lying unconscious a few feet away from her; the bikes were destroyed. The buildings above them were coming down, but she wasn't about to let any of them die. She concentrated, harder than ever before, and she created two more barriers, one surrounding her friend's bodies, the other surrounding her own. Everything blacked out.

* * *

**Forgive me! This chapter is really short because the next part i was going to add to it actually became the next chapter! Eh...i hope you like it...i guess. **


	7. Chapter 7

**YOU HAVE TO READ THIS TO AVOID CONFUSION! Just to make sure that none of you readers out there get confused, this chapter is all about one of the memories that never returned to Kat, so at the beginning this chapter, Kat doesn't remember any of the Titans or doesn't know anything about her powers because she hasn't become a Titan yet. And her real name is Eli! I've always loved that name…I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_Eli's consciousness began to slowly return to her as she opened her eyes. The sun blinded her, but it wasn't long before her surroundings came back into view. The school around her was destroyed, bits and pieces of it still burning from the effects of the explosion. They sky was clouded over; the air thick with smoke. There was absolutely no life around her. Everything was dead…including her friends and fellow students. She let out a sob as she found her best friend's lying on the ground, their bodies burnt and bleeding. It was her fault…it was all her fault that they were dead. _

_They came for her. She didn't know who they were, but they were robots. They asked for her and threatened to destroy the school and kill everyone if she didn't go with them, but she refused. They attacked her, but before she knew it, several of the robots were shorting out in front of her, dropping to the ground before they could even touch her. Soon there were only a few left, and they disappeared. She heard a beeping noise coming from behind her, and she didn't even have enough time to stop the bomb as it went off, but somehow, she wasn't harmed. She was standing right next to it, but when she looked at herself, she only had a few bruises here and there, and a couple scrapes and scratches on her arms and legs. She didn't understand how it was possible, but she wasn't going to question it. She survived…she should have been happy, but she wasn't._

_She walked across the concourse, hoping to find at least one person who had lived, but the explosion was huge; it wasn't possible for anyone to survive. She did though, so it kept her going. Stopping by her friend's bodies, she pressed her index and middle finger against their pulse point, hoping that they were still alive and were just unconscious, but they were dead…all of them. She even checked on the people who were never really nice to her. She just wanted to find someone who had lived, so she wouldn't be alone. The one thing that she disliked was to be alone. She always needed someone there to comfort her, to make her laugh, or to just stay by her side if she ever needed help. She clung to her best friends; not like a little puppy following their mom around though. It was more of "I don't want to lose you, so I'm going to stick with you" kind of clinginess. She hated the feeling of being alone, and even if it meant that she was going to have to find a person she completely disliked, she would do it._

_"E-Eli?" She turned around at the call of her name, and she nearly gasped when she saw Sam, one of her friends, pinned to the ground by a portion of the ceiling that had fallen onto his legs. She ran to him as quickly as she could. She slid to a stop by his side, the tears welling in her eyes._

_"Oh my God, Sam!" she attempted to push the rock off her friend's legs, but it was too heavy for her to move. Not even with the amount of adrenaline pumping through her body, she was still unable to push it off of the boy's legs, but she didn't stop trying. _

_"Eli…you're alive?" She nodded her head, grunting as she pushed her back against the rock. _

_"Yeah," she replied, "and so are you…" He shook his head as he reached for her hand, stopping her from trying to help him. _

_"N-not for long…" He looked up at her, his eyes gazing deeply into hers. He opened his mouth to say something, but his breath caught in his throat. She didn't realize it before, but she saw a huge puddle of blood forming beneath the boy's body. He tried to lean up, but the pain that followed was too much. That's when she saw it. A small metal rod was pierced through his stomach, and he was bleeding out. He coughed, and more blood was poured onto the ground. "…It…it hurts too much…"_

_"No…wait! You can't leave me!" She reached down for his hand, gripping tightly as she prayed for him to stay with her, but God wasn't listening to her that day. His breath left him completely, and his heart stopped in seconds. His hand went limp in hers, and finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer. The tears poured out of her eyes. She laid her head down on his back, the fabric of his jacket muffling her cries. She was alone again. There was no around to help her; no one she could trust._

CRUNCH!_ Her head shot up, and she was on her feet in seconds. Three more of those robotic things were standing there, laser guns held firmly in their hands. She took a step back, but she tripped and fell. She tried to back up, but a wall of rock that had fallen was preventing her from going anywhere. She was trapped. _

_"Please…" she begged, "…don't hurt me! Stay away from me!" They lifted the guns. She let out a scream, but the pain she was expecting to rack her entire body never came. She opened her eyes, not even realizing that she had them closed in the first place. All three were on the ground, arrows sticking out of their backs. Her gaze went further up, and her eyes fell on the form of a teenage boy in a red costume and yellow boots. A mask was covering his eyes, and he had a bow held in his hands. His body was undeniably muscular, probably from many years of archery. His masked eyes softened as he looked at he, a smile forming on face. He took one step towards her, and she tried to push further back into the rock, but she couldn't go anywhere._

_"Don't worry," he whispered kindly, kneeling down on the ground, "I'm not going to hurt you…" She let out a small chuckle as he watched the archer crawl to her on his knees, and she couldn't suppress a smile. He sat down on the ground next to her, placing the bow down on the ground as a sign of peace. "See…everything's alright…there's no one else here to hurt you. You're safe now." _

_She nodded her head, but still unsure whether or not she should trust him. He did save her life from those robots, but she didn't know, "Who…who are you?" _

_"I'm Speedy," he replied, sitting up straighter as if proud to say his name aloud, "Number one archer of all time…well, except for my mentor. He taught me everything I know…" She smiled again. He wasn't exactly modest, but it still made her happy to be talking to someone, even if this someone was a complete stranger to her. "What about you? What's your name?" _

_"E-Elizabeth…" her voice was hoarse as she spoke, "…but all my friends call-" She held back cry as she corrected herself, "…used to call me Eli…" Another tear stained her already reddened cheeks as she thought about her friends, their bloodied faces forming in her head once again. She didn't even try to stop Speedy when he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She needed someone there to comfort her, and if it meant allowing some stranger in, she would do it._

_"It's okay…" he whispered, but they both knew it wasn't. Eli's life was destroyed, gone, totaled. When that bomb went off, her life vanished right before her eyes. Everything she ever knew was no more. He rubbed her back soothingly in an attempt to calm her down. The tears started to stop coming, but not because she was feeling better. Actually, she felt the opposite. She felt like crap, but she could no longer cry. There were no more tears. "Better?" he questioned as he noticed her tears slowing. She shook her head,_

_"No…my friends are dead, I'm freaking wanted by peoples unknown, and I'm all alone! How is anything supposed to get better?" She screamed at him. _

_"You're not alone…I'm here, aren't I?" She glared up at him._

_"I just met you…you're not exactly someone I trust right now…" She pried his arms off of her before slouching away from him, "…and what the hell were those things? Why were they after me?" He tried to move closer, so he could explain to her, but she pushed him away, "No, just tell me what the hell is going on?" Speedy sighed, inching back a bit to give her the space she needed._

_"Those robots that came here for you are part of a group called The Brotherhood of Evil. Their whole meaning of existence is destroy us teen superheroes who fight crime for the good of our cities."_

_"Why did they come after me?"_

_He continued, "You see, there have been many power break outs among teens all over the world. The Brotherhood is trying to find these teens and recruit them for their cause, but if they don't join, they get killed. You're one of those teens Eli…" _

_"But…I don't have a power! I never have, and I never will!" she exclaimed quickly, shaking her head in disbelief. _

_"You can't tell you have this power because you can't control it yet. I mean, how do you think you survived all of this?" he gestured to the fallen school, "No normal human could have made it out of this to tell the tale. Trust me, there's something special about you." Eli forced a blush back as she looked up at him. He couldn't be serious about any of this, but when she thought about it, it all made sense. The reason why those first few robots that attacked her shorted out, and the reason why she was still alive and unharmed after that explosion were solved. It all added up, but she was starting to become more doubtful about whether or not she should trust him. He may have saved her, and he may have been nice to her while she cried, but she had just met him._

_"How do I know if I can trust you?" she asked. He smiled before he picked up his bow off the ground and placed it in her hands. He removed his quiver from his back and placed the strap over the girl's shoulders._

_"There," he said, "you have my only weapons in your possession." He stood up, putting out his hand for her to take. She took it and stood up as well. He reached around her to grab an arrow out of the quiver before showing it to her, "If I try anything, which I won't, you just shoot me…" He placed the arrow into the hand that wasn't holding the bow. She looked at him questioningly._

_"But…I don't know how-" He moved behind her, his hands grabbing hers as he lifted the bow. He showed her how to place the arrow into the bow and pulled her hands back with his._

_"You hold it like this…" he demonstrated, touching her elbow lightly to lift it higher, "…keep your elbow up and just relax all your muscles. Take a deep breath…" She did, "…aim…" She aimed it at one of the rocks in front of them, "…and when you breathe out, release the arrow…" She exhaled, her grip on the wire string loosening before she let go of it completely. The arrow soared through the air and hit the exact spot on the rock that she was aiming for. "You're a natural…" he whispered in her ear. A tingle ran up her spine as his warm breath tickled her neck. He pulled back, lowering his hands to his sides, "Come on…we need to go. The Brotherhood might be sending reinforcements to come get you." She nodded, but when he started walking away, she didn't follow._

_"Speedy," He turned around to look at her, stepping back in front of her as he looked at her._

_"What is it?"_

_"Before I go anywhere with you, you have to promise me one thing." It was his turn to nod his head, "Promise me that you won't let anything or anybody hurt me…please…" He smiled down at her, _

_"I promise I'll keep you safe…don't worry…I'll always be here for you if you need me. I won't let anything hurt you…" _

Kat's eyes opened once again, but there was no sun to blind her like in her…was it a dream? No…it was a memory…it had to be. She sat up, gripping her head tightly as it pounded. She looked around. The entire city was destroyed. Buildings were lying on their sides, fires were burning through their structures, and there was glass all over the ground. She was surrounded by fallen pieces of rock, but none of them got through her barrier, so she was trapped in a perfect circle. Pushing her bike off her legs, she attempted to climb over the rocks, but she let out a hiss as a new pain ripped up and down her leg. She ignored it though, climbing over the piles with a limp in her step as she looked for her two friends.

However, she couldn't shake the memory out of her head. No wonder why she wanted to stop that bomb. She may not have remembered what had happened all those years ago, but her mind was telling her that she had to prevent something like it from ever happening again, but she didn't stop it. Another one of her homes was destroyed, and she could have done something about it, but then again, she now remembered what it was like to lose a friend…actually, make that several friends. She watched one die right in front of her. She couldn't let Speedy, Aqualad, or the rest of the team know how that feels. However, she was worried for the two boys. She didn't know if they survived or not, and she could not live if they died. Her shield should have protected them, but then again, she passed out. Usually, her shield will stop working when her concentration was broke.

Worry building even more, she crawled over a few more piles of rock before she finally found her friends. Both were waking up as they moved to sit up, and her eyes filled with tears. They were alive. She limped over to them as quickly as she could, and before they could even say anything, she had tackled them both to the ground with a huge hug. She sniffled, thanking God that they were both alive.

"K-Kat?"

"Oh, I'm so happy you two are alright!" she exclaimed, hugging them even tighter. Finally, she released them from her death grip, "You guys aren't hurt, right?" They shook their heads, standing up.

"No, we're fine…you?" Aqualad helped Kat up on to her feet, and she slightly flinched as she stood on her bad leg.

"Sa-…what?" Her gaze fell on Speedy who was looking at her intently. The way he was looking at her was making her feel uncomfortable that she started to squirm under his stare. He grabbed her arm and forced her to step forward, and she did. She grit her teeth as the pain ran through her entire leg. She couldn't stand on it anymore; it just hurt too much.

"You're hurt…" Speedy blatantly stated, a frown forming on his face, "…why don't you let me carry you Kat?"

"I-I'm fine…"

"No, you're not. I have to help you…" He moved closer to her and lifted her into his arms. Kat only blinked her eyes, and she could still see his face from his memory. _"I promise I'll keep you safe…don't worry…I'll always be here for you if you need me. I won't let anything hurt you…"_is what he had said. She understood now. The reasons why Speedy always felt so guilty and act like he failed her whenever she got hurt were because of his promise to her. Even now, he must feel terrible and responsible for her injury when in all honesty, he had nothing to do with it.

She looked up at him, the corners of her lips turned up as she smiled, "Still keeping that promise of yours, I see…" He held her tighter to his body as they walked down the street, but he didn't respond. Aqualad looked between his two friends, his own smile gracing his face. He didn't know what Kat was talking about, but Speedy seemed to understand. He couldn't believe that just a few days ago, Speedy was angry at her. No one would believe it if you told them. An hour went by until a buzzing sound filled their ears. They looked up just in time to see Bee flying down to them, a relieved look on her face.

"Thank God!" she exclaimed, landing on the ground in front of them before she hugged her three teammates, "I thought you guys were dead! I'm so glad I was wrong!" From the looks of it, she had been crying. "How did you guys survive?" The two boys looked down to Kat, their leader's gaze following their eyes. In the hour that they had spent walking, the girl finally gave under the exhaustion and had passed out.

"If it wasn't for her, we would be dead right now," Aqualad whispered, "But she's hurt, and we need to get her help." Bumblebee nodded her head.

"I can take her if you want," she touched Kat's arm, "I can fly her to the ambulance they have parked outside the city limits. They can help her from there." Speedy jerked the girl in his arms away from his leader. The action caused the brunette to wake up, shifting in the arms of the boy.

"I got it…I can carry her…"

"But Speedy, she needs to get help now," Aqualad said, putting his hand lightly on the archer's shoulder, "All we know is that her leg hurts, but it can be something much worse that she may need medical assistance now."

"NO!" he screamed, backing away from his teammates, "I got it…I'm not letting her out of my sight…"

"Speedy…" All eyes turned towards the girl who was now pushing away from the archer, carefully setting her feet down on the ground as she tried to stand, "…I'll be fine…you've kept your promise several times now, I'll be fine. You can trust Bee…you know she'd never let anything happen to me…" He looked like he wanted to argue with her, but he let it go and nodded his head.

"Bee…take care of her, please…" She smiled at him, gently nudging him,

"I always take care of my team…don't worry, she's safe with me…" A grin spread across Kat's face as she stared at her friends. She couldn't believe how close she had been to killing herself. She thought that Steel City was her home, and she didn't want anything to happen to it, but now that she really, truly thought about it, her home was wherever she and her team were, and if she had ended her life, only then would her home have been destroyed. It may not have been perfect, but this was her family. Right then and there, family was all she got, and family was all she really needed.

* * *

**Uhh...the ending kind of sucks, but i finished! I'm just happy i wrote this last chapter! I actually kind of like it, and i hope you readers out there do too! That whole italicized part in the very beginning actually came from one of my stories i had laying around. I wrote it one day when i was in school, and my friends actually enjoyed reading it. i didn't include the whole story though...it would have been too long. I rushed the ending just because...i suck at writing the ending of stories. It's just something i do not like to write...but i hope you liked the story! Review please! **


End file.
